The Ocarina of the Wild
by NamelessGrunt
Summary: A relic of days gone by is found by a hero who has lost all hope. If only he'd had a little more time...
1. Chapter 1

AN: I'd like to acknowledge JamesYorke's "Fish out of Water" story here on the Zelda section. It has been an incredible read thus far with an attention to detail and lore that few of us can hope to surpass. After reading it and completing my own play-through I was interested in pursuing a story with a twist on the timeline in BotW, and also because I have a soft spot for the tragic romance that was implied between Link and Mipha. I hope you all enjoy my own story about the flow of time and the struggle of the hero.

* * *

" _Whenever there is a meeting, a parting is sure to follow._

 _However, that parting need not last forever..._

 _Whether a parting be forever of merely for a short time..._

 _That is up to you.."_

 _-Nameless Mask Salesman_

* * *

The rain fell on the ruined skeleton of a Hylian army outpost, a grey pall of light pushing through the clouds across the landscape. The animals skittered out of the downpour, tracking mud as they found refuge among the nearby trees that had begun to reclaim what were once clear-cut battlements and defensive lines. Through the broken outer wall and among the ghosts of those who'd defended it, the man in blue walked alone.

He strode with purpose, and arms honed by many hours of swordcraft easily clambered along the ruined masonry. Those the man had come across often found him the very image of the disciplined, dashing hero of legend they would expect from the many stories told in his wake. It was tragic, then, that the look on his face was of a dead man walking.

Empty, tired eyes stared out of that picture of firm resolve. The stoic demeanor that had been cultivated as Hyrule's perfect champion knight was almost a mockery now, the dispassionate gaze only a shell of its former light. A sad, lonely man alone on the road.

Callused hands found purchase on the rain slick rock, and the hero climbed through the broken ramparts of what had once been the outer wall of the outpost. Fragmented memories compelled him to check the lamp oil in sconces that would never glow again, and to stand to attention on rounds patrolled now by no one. Faces smiled at him from memories of burnished mail and plate, but the painful truth was no names came to mind, no context tying his scattered thoughts together.

It was a terrible fate to have forgotten everything that made you what you were.

The mettle was there. His craft for slaying remained, the muscle memory serving him well as he carried out his duty. A blank empty gaze regarded those who instructed him on his quest, his mute demeanor accepting the role for lack of anything else to draw on. He felt himself an imposter in his own skin, recognition from the few who might have known wasted on a heart empty of memories.

Though as he walked the land, the man found himself wondering no longer who he _was_ , but how much of him _remained._

A soldier fights for his country and his family, and there was neither left for the knight-out-of-time. The Sheikah looked to him as some sort of warrior-hero returned from the grave, he could only laugh bitterly wandering through the rain and the mud with sword and shield he took rusting from the grasp of a long dead body along the way; Hardly the arms of a legend, let alone one that had to scramble amid trees to outwit mere moblins.

The hero methodically searched crates, barrels and broken chests, scavenging supplies for his journey ahead. Staying busy helped the man keep his mind off the painful wreck of his memories, his own identity as a person muddled by amnesia.

 _A home between the mountains and the sea._

 _The sound of running water._

 _Haunting amber eyes that warmed his soul._

The hero shook his head abruptly, feeling his heart clench once more at that particular memory. There was pain there, and too little of the warmth that should have been remembered. He did not die in the shrine of resurrection, but he didn't quite live either.

He pushed on, breaking open a door to the sublevels of the compound. It was surprising that so many of the ruins dotting Hyrule had gone largely unmolested during his 100 year sleep following the Calamity, but with the presence of Guardians killing any who drew near, the man could surmise that few would dare poke about the areas they patrolled mindlessly.

Mildew and mold made him cover his nose, the smell of a damp basement below the outpost not the most pleasant greeting, but any treasure or equipment left behind may be a help in the final battle. Lighting a torch, the man drew further into the ruins. Below the outpost was the command center, at which the garrison commander would store sensitive materials, prisoners and afford some measure of all around protection to any valuable persons taking refuge at the fort. An examination of a tattered set of orders posted to a bulletin board revealed that before the last battle the troops there had been transporting relics from the Royal Family.

 _Perhaps there will be some magical tools I can use._ The hero thought idly.

It hurt, walking the ruined hall of a familiar-but-not place, half expecting some faceless friend to appear and remind him about his duty shift. Now all that was left of the knight order and soldiery of the once proud Hylian army were rusted arms and bleached bones. Were it not for the Sheikah's timely arrival, he would have died at his post too, far from home.

 _And what was the point of that unwavering service?_ The bitter thought crossed his mind. _Did the knight champion make any difference against that calamity?_

Legends spoke of great heroes and their unrelenting courage, but the stories never dwelt on what happened when those suffering warriors came back to their ruined villages, broken families and dead friends.

He came to the storage lockers of the outpost's basement. Behind the rusted grate he smashed open were manifests and a number of chests. Searching through what was left yielded some ancient texts, likely headed for the royal library. The final chest was something different, however.

There was no mention of it on the manifest, and judging by the double lock he had to pry off, this was a high priority relic being transported. The hero lifted the lid of the aged chest, and found sitting on a padded surface a small blue instrument.

It was a sky-blue sheen, although when he picked it up the man found the weight of the thing to discount any ceramic material. Some kind of stone perhaps. There was a band about the mouthpiece with a golden triforce symbol, and holding the instrument gave him an odd sense of nostalgia.

 _Ocarina..._ The word popped into his head.

Not the kind of magic weapon he intended to loot, although the hero pocketed the instrument none the less. It may prove useful being traded some time later for arrows. He left the basement level and stepped out into the clearing daylight of the storm passing by. The smell of wet loam and fresh air was welcome, although the stoic expression on the Hero's face did not change.

 _Better get moving, might be able to cross the Tabantha frontier before nightfall._

The man hitched up his pack once more, and departed from the outpost ruins, he never looked back.

 _There's nothing to look back on anymore..._

* * *

Night time brought the chirp of crickets and the occasional call of Keese. The ink of the dark heavens overhead made way for the circle of light warmed by the campfire. A bedroll and tarp, rucksack and sword. He never needed much when traversing the land, some part of him relished the natural state. The man bit off a piece of venison jerky, and stared into the flames.

 _Link..._

That was his name, he supposed. That mysterious voice that greeted him in the shrine of resurrection called him such, and the few still living since his 100 year slumber recognized the face he wore.

 _Like a mask..._ He thought to himself morosely.

So much was broken, missing, gone. An entire life, who he was, fragmented and unfamiliar. He felt like a stranger in his own skin, a pretender or some sort of phantom. There was little to no comfort he could recall.

...but he felt pain, sure enough.

The men he served with in the Hylian knight order, all faceless ghosts to him now. The camaraderie and forging of a soldier lost but for the practiced swing of his sword.

The comrades, now dead or gone, living among the Sheikah tribe or spirits shackled to the divine beasts, all looking upon him with relief and familiarity, and he couldn't look upon them the same.

 _A wet embrace, amber gaze, and gentle words in the rain._

A set of armor with a white scale sat at the bottom of his enchanted pack, a gift to a fiancé from long ago, a vow unremembered and unrequited.

The ache was there. He felt her loss keenly, some part of him gone, but the comfort of their time together was also stripped away. What cruel joke could the goddess have pulled to ask of him everything, even the bittersweet memories of the one closest to him? Or had even the goddess faded into ancient legend, and now the living struggled on in futility against the end of all things?

Link stared into the fire, feeling the warmth on his face, long past the point he'd shed tears, now only very old and tired in a body that struggled on to fulfill a final duty.

Something had changed. He didn't feel much like any hero of yore, if he ever was. The courage in his bones was born now of heedless disregard for his own life, and as if sensing something had broken in the Hylian, the blade of evil's bane had rejected him too. Link recalled trying to draw the sword once before in the ancient Korok forest, but the blade had refused his call.

He wasn't a returning hero, he was just some damaged old man that didn't live up to the legends.

Link prodded at the fire, watching the sparks curl up into the night. Duty pushed him onwards. Whatever dregs of soldiery still left in him that clung to the knight's code, the stoic face of his service to the crown. Destroying Ganon to save the land.

 _...and then what?_

There was no home for him to return to. No one to welcome him back with open arms. The hero felt the despair of his endless struggle seep into his bones and eat away at him from within. He was trying to live up to what the man he once was had been, but he felt like a child playing pretend in their father's clothes.

He spent some time sadly by the fire, before he recalled the curious relic he picked up at the outpost. Rummaging through his pack, Link drew out the ocarina once more.

The smooth blue instrument eased his spirits. Just holding it made him calmer, fingering the holes experimentally, drawing it up to his lips.

He blew one clear note.

All at once, he felt a rush not unlike his memory flashbacks, and the instruments in his hand sparkled as the world around him dissolved into white...

Link stared around at the foggy surroundings, no sensation of touch, smell or taste greeting him.

 _This isn't a memory..._ He thought to himself warily.

It must have been some magical safeguard of the relic, or perhaps this is how it was supposed to function? Was there a spell on it?

He turned about, and almost yelped as he came face to face with a skeleton in ancient armor staring him down with dispassionate empty sockets.

Link stood ready, sword drawn with a ringing rasp, waiting for the specter to make the first move. Ever was he surprised when the being did not advance on him, but instead spoke in a deep thrum he could hear inside his skull.

 _"You may be destined to become the hero of legend... but your current power disgraces me."_

Link's brow furrowed. Yet another Sheikah trial of some kind perhaps, though the disapproval irked him none the less. He steeled himself to meet this combat trial head first, and stepping forward he thrust quickly from his practiced stance with his blade whistling as it cut through the air.

The impact of being disarmed shook the breath from his body, and in an unfamiliar turn of events the ex-knight found himself aching flat on his back with the skeleton specter's sword at his throat.

 _"What ails you? This is not the courage of the hero, it is the struggle of a dead man."_

Link only stared up at the being, the muteness of his chosen knight demeanor returning easily. The skeleton stared back, and somehow Link felt vulnerable there, as if the being could see something inside him and find him wanting.

 _"I sense much regret in you, and a broken soul robbed of its childhood."_

The rusty helmet inclined slightly, almost sadly.

 _"Believe me warrior, I am no stranger to your pain."_

"What would you know?"

Link's furious reply caught even himself off guard.

"I've lost everything! I don't even know who I am, and I'm forced into a hopeless quest to save the world!"

He felt tears come to his eyes, but this outburst was long overdue, and being lectured by a Sheikah specter was just too much.

"I'm nothing! I'm scrabbling in the dirt trying to survive and I'm supposed to kill the demon that destroyed Hyrule! I had a name, I had a _fiancé_ , and both are just bits and pieces I can't even remember!"

Link sank back onto the floor, feeling that terrible ache return to his weary bones.

"I can't save anyone. I'm just a nobody wearing a champion's face..."

A hundred years of pain and suffering crashed down about the young hero, of impossible expectations and unrequited love, and Link wept as he felt his stoic mask give way.

The skeletal being knelt, and Link felt the heavy gauntlet on his shoulder as the strange being sat next to him.

 _"Tell me."_

* * *

He spoke for some time.

There in the ethereal realm of fog, Link found himself a brief respite. Away from the expectations of being the Hylian champion, from grand quests and world ending troubles, the young man finally found a chance to express all of his troubles. Here with this Sheikah apparition, at the very least the Hylian hero found he could vent his anguish.

Link concluded his tale of picking up the pieces since he had awoken from his 100 year slumber. The skeleton knight was silent, staring into the distance with those empty sockets, though a burning red began to alight in one of them.

 _"The flow of time is always cruel."_ he spoke at last, as if half to himself, rising from his kneeling next to the despondent Hylian.

 _"As you stand now, you have no hope of overcoming Ganon. You must regain that courage you once had... and find it you must. Only then will you become the hero for whom this world despairs."_

Link drew an arm across his tired red eyes, and stood to face the being.

 _"What we need is more time..."_

Sheathing its fearsome broadsword and shield, the skeleton knight reached into a moss-covered belt pouch, and withdrew a small grey ocarina with a green mark on the mouthpiece.

 _"From I, who have walked through time and fate, I offer_ _ **this melody**_ _that opens the door of time."_

The spectral knight raised the instrument to his helmet, and a haunting series of notes were played, ringing in the silence of the foggy realm. Link withdrew the blue relic ocarina he had found, and put it to his lips. He pictured the skeletal finger movements, and closing his eyes he began to play.

Together, Hylian and ghost played the ancient song that had long since faded into myth. The somber notes echoed as Link felt the music burned into his fragmented memory, an anchor in a world of uncertainty.

As the song ended, Link stared in wonder as the instrument began to glow with a fairy sparkle. The skeleton knight nodded in approval.

 _"You have learned the_ _ **song of time**_ _. This was the melody I had used generations prior when the great king of evil threatened the land of Hyrule."_

At this, the dawning suspicion Link had that this apparition wasn't a Sheikah test after all began to come to light. He stared in wonder as the pieces began to fit together.

 _"You may have known me as_ _ **the hero of time**_ _."_

There was a blinding light, and Link covered his eyes as the world surrounding him disappeared.

* * *

What he saw next was a chaotic lightshow of broiling clouds, rain and lightning. Some sort of vision that the being was imparting to him.

 _"Before time began, before spirits and life existed, three golden goddesses descended upon the chaos that was Hyrule. Din, the goddess of power. Nayru, the goddess of wisdom. Farore, the goddess of courage."_

A trio of heavenly beings descended, glowing with light and color that defied the imagination.

 _"Din, with her strong flaming arms, she cultivated the land and created the red earth. Nayru, poured her wisdom into the earth and gave the spirit of law to the world. Farore, with her rich soul, produced all life forms that would uphold the law."_

Stone and water, air and fire were shaped like clay, and the world took shape out of the cold black of the void.

 _"The three great goddesses, their labors completed, departed for the heavens. And golden sacred triangles remained at the place where the goddesses left the world. Since then, the sacred triangles have become the basis of our world's providence. And, the resting place of the triangles has become the Sacred Realm."_

The vision faded away, and Link found himself once more facing the skeletal knight.

 _"This is the foundation mythos of our world, so ancient that even the old goddesses have fallen into legend. The goddess you worship as Hylia was tasked to protect the sacred triangles,_ _ **the Triforce**_ _, from evil's grasp."_

Link was stunned. He only ever been traditionally religious, but this earth-shaking revelation was quite a lot to process.

 _"Many generations ago, a demon lord emerged from the underworld and threatened to capture this sacred power for himself. The goddess Hylia, with the aid of a hero, took a mortal form and sealed away this demon lord to be destroyed within the sword of evil's bane."_

The skeletal knight hung its helmeted head, ruefully.

 _"However, this demon, who lusted after the sacred power of the gods, cursed the now mortal goddess and the hero's bloodlines. That an incarnation of his wrath would challenge them forever. This demon's incarnations came to be known as Ganon."_

Link's eyes widened. Ganon's return was an apocalyptic event, though the knowledge that it had occurred _multiple times_ filled him with despair. What hope was there in overcoming an unrelenting evil that would simply return time and time again?

 _"In my time, this evil incarnated as the Gerudo king Ganondorf. In the course of my quest against him, I used the powers of the ocarina you now hold and the blade of evil's bane to travel across time. With the help of the princess in my age, and the seven sages, we defeated Ganon and sealed him in the Sacred Realm."_

The ocarina felt warm to the touch, as if responding to the legend the skeletal knight spoke of.

 _"Even with the power of these ancient Sheikah constructs, eradicating Ganon cannot be accomplished merely by force of arms. Truly, it was little wonder that the untrained princess of your age was unable to fully banish Ganon herself. You will need the power of the ancient sages to trap Ganon in the sacred realm..."_

The ghost knight's eye began to glow with a red menace, the bite of his words turning hard.

 _"...and then you must journey there, to destroy the heart of that evil once and for all, and bring peace to our land forevermore."_

Link stared at the ancient hero, feeling all at once very small and insignificant. He looked at his callused hands, chapped from scrabbling over rock. He felt the aches and pains of dozens of injuries that plagued him. He felt the despair and turmoil of being a stranger in his own skin, and the pain of a broken heart.

Though even as he shrank inwards, he could remember the gratitude of those he had saved along the way. The ordinary folk of the stables, from merchants to horse mistresses; The Zora who called out his name amid a liberated Domain...and the heart-wrenching tears of a spirit long imprisoned that saw some spark inside him he could not explain.

Even if he was but a shell, he would live up to what she had believed of him. Even if the world stood against him.

...And so he stood up and steeled himself in front of the skeletal knight.

"I'm not a champion or a hero," he said with a weary voice, "but I will face this solemn duty."

The pain inside throbbed, but Link clenched his fists knuckle-white.

"Not because I have any hope for myself, but so no one else will suffer at the hands of Ganon ever again."

There was a silence, and the ancient knight placed a heavy gauntlet on Link's shoulder.

 _"I am proud of you, my child."_

The ancient hero shook his helmeted head, _"Even now, hurt as you are, you possess the mettle to carry on."_

The red eye glowed brightly, and the being seemed almost eager.

 _"...But you are not alone. I shall guide you in the lonely path of the sword, and finding the ancient sages, with which you will ensure Ganon's destruction. To this end, the true hero must rally forth, not the casualty of time I see before me now."_

The world of fog surrounding them began to collapse. There was a roaring cacophony, and Link struggled against unseen wind as he felt something tearing him away.

 _"Now then, chosen hero, you will start over from the beginning."_

Link screamed as he felt his body turn to something ethereal, and with a tugging sensation behind his naval, was drawn into the howling white light, and knew no more.

* * *

There were birds chirping, and the sight of an endless blue sky that greeted Link when he opened his eyes.

His mind was foggy, as if some half remembered dream still dwelt on his mind. His eyes felt red and blotchy, as if he'd been crying. He reached up to rub at them, and the small hand that did so surprised him.

"Hey kid, you're awake, huh?"

The Hylian whirled about, and found himself sitting among some shipping crates and hay, with a Hylian soldier leaning back against the wagon they rode in. A merchant of some sort was studiously directing their horse to the front, and the rasp of cicadas told him it was summertime.

"You okay kid? Looked like a bad dream."

The soldier lifted his plumed helmet to wipe his brow, "Ugh, this armor's way too much for these balmy days."

Link tried to say something, but could only look about in shock. There was something... _strange_ about all this.

"Ah great, we're here! I can't wait to cool off in the river."

Link turned once more, and found himself greeted by an eerily familiar mountain range and a valley blessed with running water. From its bosom a breathtaking city sculpted out of luminous rock towered on beautiful tresses, and waterfalls crashed down amid the cliffs surrounding it.

Despite his chaotic thoughts, Link felt tears come unbidden at the sight, as something necessary inside him was made whole again. The Hylian soldier patted him comfortingly on the back.

"Welcome to Zora's Domain kid, I hope you like it here."


	2. Chapter 2

The world was big, bigger than it should be.

The feeling didn't really make sense, but the 10 year old Hylian boy was a whirlwind of confusion at the moment. He fidgeted with the strap of his meager backpack, containing all of his worldly possessions. The man escorting him was a fellow soldier of his father, and Link appreciated that the man was kind enough to keep talking to him. He suspected it was to take his mind off his father's death. The soldier's chatter helped him think about other things, and not dwell on the hurt inside.

Being all alone in the world made him feel very cold and small.

It was strange too, that he remembered his father, but felt like there was more. _Something more._

There was a cry from the trail ahead.

Link gasped as the wagon crested the lip of the mountain trail, the view ahead a breathtaking panorama of the mountain valley. Tremendous waterfalls crashed down among peaks of sparkling indigo and shale. The crisp air carried the mist of the falls, and the pines swung softly with the wind that ruffled his hair. Up ahead, he could see a lattice-work of luminous stone sculpture forming an elegant roadway, winding towards a shining blue city that nestled in the heart of the river valley.

Drawing closer, Link stared in childlike wonder as he saw his reflection distorted in the beautiful stonecraft of the azure bridge. The Hylian soldier chuckled, and rose from his seat at the back of the wagon to speak to the two large guards that made Link do a double take.

They were almost twice the size of the adult soldier before them, and they no clothing on but armor of some sort, with peaked helms jutting from long flaps that looked like... _fins_.

 _These are Zora,_ Link thought to himself. The thought came unbidden.

One was a deep blue with a cream underbelly, and the other a purple shade. Link caught himself staring as one of them glanced over at him with yellow eyes that had slit pupils.

The Hylian soldier spoke a guard, showing the wagon's manifest as he declared their intent and cargo. Link fidgeted with the strap of his pack, looking down the sloping cliffs into the sparkling river. The soldier must have been a comrade of his father, though the Hylian boy couldn't help but feel a strange deja vu when looking at the burnished helm and pauldrons of the uniform. He could faintly recall riding on his father's shoulders, a similar set of arming wear for a captain about his father's wide shoulders and comforting smile on the long haired blond man's weathered face. Another reminder of something that had been taken away from him forever, _just like mother..._

"Hoi there, tadpole!"

Link snapped his head up in surprise, finding the blue-hued guard leaning down to address him. He almost blocked out the sun over the little Hylian.

"You look like a strong little guy. You've swung a sword before, haven't you?"

The blond boy flexed one of his biceps with pride, unable to resist the childish impulse to live up to his swordsman dreams. The guard's yellow eyes crinkled with mirth, and he made a show of sounding impressed.

"Ahh, definitely the calluses and muscles of a sword arm, I could tell. You must have worked hard for those."

He ruffled the child's golden locks, eyes softening.

"I heard about why you've come, little swordsman. I'm sorry you've lost your father. That's a difficult parting for such a young age, even among you Hylians."

Link nodded, a bit more glum now.

"I know you are in pain now, but in time this too will wash away. Here among the domain, the waters ebb and flow with the passing of our lives. There is always beauty to be found, even after the rain."

The blonde boy thought on the saying for a moment, and nodded solemnly. A bit of a silly sight on a child, as the guard chuckled and ruffled his hair again.

"My name is Trello. Come find me if you're feeling glum again little swordsman, and I'll introduce you to the others in the Zora Guard. We could always use a good sword arm!"

Link smiled toothily, and waved at the kind guard as the Hylian soldier he was with had concluded his business.

They strode across the blue bridge of the domain, the luminescent stone that made up the masonry was captivating to look at. Link heard the soldier talking about how his wife was one of the artisans enamored with the Zora aesthetic, but found most of his attention focused on the new surroundings.

The reached a central platform among the series of lattices that occupied the river valley. Here there were bustling crowds of Zora civilians going about their daily business. Link could see fishmongers drawing up their catch from below with a winch, and several stalls where Hyrule Bass and Sizzlefin Trout could be bought. A green-hued mother with her child in a sling about her shoulders was browsing fruit at another stall, a hydromelon the size of her head held up to the sun. Sparkling jewelry in an array of precious stones were lined on blue felt at another stall, and smaller, teenage Zora females were cooing over the bracelets there. Link drew closer to his soldier escort to avoid being trampled underfoot. These fish people sure were _tall..._

It was an elegant and exotic place, and Link couldn't help but feel some sort of contentment at being there, even with such sad circumstances. He looked up at the crest of the western peak, where the veiled falls were and a perfect little glade above where you could...

 _...wait, what?_

The boy frowned staring up at the place that he'd never been to. He could picture a sheltered dip in the peak with ancient cedars sprouting forth, where the squirrels played and the long grass made for some great naps to take away from the breeze of the hillsides. It was a curious thought, so crystal clear to him he'd mistake it for a memory.

 _...but he'd never been here before in his life, right?_

The boy shook his head as he and the soldier escort came to another set of guards, and were admitted further into the inner sanctum of the Zora kingdom. They began to climb a stairway, which brought into view the arcing stairwells and outer ring of the domain. Pillars of elegant luminous stone in all the hues of starlight indigo and sky blue shone across the valley, and Link wondered briefly if the residents ever tired of the sight. He didn't think he could ever not be amazed by the beautiful curves and arches of the domain.

There were more guards now, these in particularly shining armor with backs ramrod straight. A black-scaled Zora prowled among them, sharp rebuke and critical eye roaming their posture. _An inspection by the Sergeant,_ Link thought to himself, somehow natural in the assumption.

There was a wide pavilion, just below the crown of the domain, which made Link crane his neck back to view a breathtaking sculpture of a fish at the peak. Passing through the awning, the Hylian boy found his head still craned back at the sight of a positively _gigantic_ Zora who occupied a grand throne amid white marble and blue stonework. The Hylian soldier he was with joined a few others who were waiting ahead, and Link stood politely at the rear with his hands folded at the small of his back, like he'd seen many of the trainees do.

"...the final matter of the day, your highness," a green-scaled Zora with a flattish head was shuffling parchment next to the foot of the throne at a side table hewn from the rock, "the contingent of Hylian soldiers with their king's permission have arrived, for the matter of their captain's son."

"Ah yes," The Zora king's voice was booming, much like his frame would suggest, "Step forward, my boy!"

One of the soldiers patted him on the back comfortingly, and Link took a deep breath and walked up a small platform. He felt very small and alone there, with all the eyes of the room on him, but stood tall as his childish frame would allow and gazed up at the massive fish king.

"Heh ha ha!" The Zora king laughed abruptly, a jolly sound for such a dangerous looking giant, "You've got your father's look about you my boy, no doubt about it. It reminds me of our days fighting together on the frontier, a reckless swordsman with that same wild look you have in your eyes!"

The great Zora's eyes creased sadly, "I very much regret his passing, I wish I could have seen my good friend one last time."

Link swallowed the lump he felt in his throat, willing himself not to dwell on that absence.

"Still, I made a promise to my old friend, and I intend to keep it." The blue-scaled king smiled wide and clasped a fist to his heart in an old warrior's salute, "I, King Dorephan, welcome you to the Zora Domain, as one of us. Our home is your home, and ever should you seek shelter from the rains of the world, you will be embraced as family."

Link felt a prickle of warmth at his eyes, and fiercely willed it away with a boy's pride. He raised his own childish fist to his chest, eliciting a laugh from the king opposite him.

"Well met, my boy. It's unheard of for us to welcome an outsider in such a way, but my old friend and I made a promise to look after each other's children should something happen, on a battlefield long, long ago." The king looked off into the distance, reminiscing, and then shook his great head, "Regardless, I'll have you introduced during our next banquet. Muzu here will show you to your quarters, and I'll see about finding one of the guard to continue your swordsmanship..."

King Dorephan continued to speak, as the green Zora with a slight frown eyed the Hylian boy, however Link found his eyes drawn across the court and its unfamiliar faces.

 _Then his blue eyes met soft amber_.

She was a slight girl, at the King's elbow with a splash of azure silk over her shoulder and warm red scales above milky under-scales. Silver jewelry adorned her body, but her eyes were what really sparkled. A demure gaze of honey-gold that met his own, and the blonde boy felt his chest tighten and a lightheaded rush that was screaming _something_ in his foggy mind.

He realized he was staring, and looked away with some color in his cheeks.

"...should you decide to follow your father's footsteps, the choice to return to Hyrule Castle will be open to you." One of the soldiers was talking now, and Link looked up to nod to his father's comrades. He hadn't planned much for the future, beyond the boyhood dreams of being a knight who saves the day. The one who had accompanied him unlimbered a plain, unadorned steel sword of a small time village, and with a start Link recognized it as his father's. He accepted the worn brown scabbard, the blade much too long for his small body, and looked over the scuffed and worn grey hilt and red wrapped grip. _A bittersweet inheritance_.

With a clatter of spears and swords, the Hylian soldiers offered a parting salute, and in formation they turned smartly, and began the march back out of the Domain to where the Merchant wagons were. The court likewise began to disperse, and Link said a heartfelt thanks and goodbye to his new patron King Dorephan. Politely following the green attendant Muzu, he chanced a look back over his shoulder, and found the red-scaled Zora girl looking at him once more. She smiled gracefully, and Link found himself responding with a warm smile as naturally as breathing. He didn't quite understand it, but something inside him that hurt very much felt soothed, and the Hylian boy felt lighter _._ A pain that had been deep in his bones melted away.

And something in the threads of destiny _changed_.

* * *

Link set to work unpacking his meager rucksack.

The room he'd been given was one of the platforms amid winding stalks of carven luminous rock. There were many that were arrayed throughout the domain, and some curving further back into the cliffs. The blue-white lighting of the Zora architecture bathed everything, giving the impression of being underwater to some degree, although as the night approached this lighting dimmed. Link could see many of the platforms were draped with elegant tapestries and silk hangings that each family collected, and it seemed like some were handed down. A sort of heirloom or sigil, he supposed. Hylian households sometimes had similar.

The room he was in was cozy, with a wading pool that had a small wooden bed frame set next to it, to accommodate his non-aquatic status no doubt. A cabinet carven from the stone was there, with cubby holes where he placed his clothes. A battered chest sat at the foot of his bed, and Link placed his father's sword inside along with his ruck and the flint and tinderbox he'd carried. Better not to get those wet.

As he packed them away, he felt something in one of the pockets of his ruck. Reaching inside, he found a cloth wrapped bundle the side of about an apple. Link unwrapped the little thing, and found himself staring at a blue ceramic instrument with a gold symbol on the mouthpiece.

 _Where did this come from?_

He held it up with childish wonder, feeling the fingering as he palmed it. _An_ _Ocarina_ , he thought to himself, the word drawing up strange feelings of an almost remembered dream. The blonde boy held it up to his lips and blew a clear note.

The world around him dissolved into white.

Link hunched over, eyes wide. He didn't expect that to happen! It must have been some sort of magic!

He looked about frantically, seeing only roiling fog. He turned about, and cried out at the sight of a skeleton knight towering over him in moss-strewn armor.

He braced, unable to see the chest he'd put his father's sword into, and being unarmed against this apparition. Still, bedtime monster or no, he refused to show fear and stood ready to punch it right in its bony shins.

The empty sockets stared at him for a time, and then the Hylian boy was surprised as he heard a voice speak clearly from the unmoving skull.

 _"I was not any older than thou when I began my quest, little one."_

Link found himself oddly reassured by the voice, and watched as it kneeled next to him on that foggy ethereal place.

 _"_ _A childish mind will turn to noble ambition... Young love will become deep affection... The clear water's surface reflects growth..."_

The ghostly knight looked up into the distance, as if ruminating on some memory long gone.

 _"Your mind still needs healing, if you are to grow into the mantle of the hero of legend."_

Link frowned, trying to recall something that the words evoked. Like the memory of the veiled falls from earlier, he felt as if there were a patchwork of things he should _know_ but just weren't... _there._

 _"As I have sworn, I will guide you in this journey. Let the wisdom from the past sooth your troubled mind, and like clear water over a calm lake, reflect on yourself."_

The skeleton drew up once more, and pulled out a small ceramic grey ocarina with a green mark on the mouthpiece. It held the instrument up to its face, and Link felt compelled to do the same with his own blue one.

The apparition blew a melody of gentle notes rising like the teardrops of a spring rain, and Link followed in turn. It was almost as if his fingers moved of their own accord, falling into a rhythm along with the ghost. The boy closed his eyes, and visions of a shining lake in the morning sun, cold winter's grasp in a hidden grotto, the light show reflections of a pool dancing on ancient stone. He let the melody flow, and something greater than himself settled in his soul.

The child-who-had-been-a-man came full circle, and the rift of a hundred year sleep healed inside him. What had been torn was stilled, and the turmoil settled with the ebb and flow of water on stone.

The music ended with a pleasant due of notes, and the skeleton knight spoke again.

 _"Thus, remember the_ _ **Serenade of Water**_ _."_

Link gasped as he saw motes of light dance about his ocarina, responding to the tune he had played. Ghosts and memories of burning fields and a hundred years of darkness teased his consciousness, and he stared up at the ghost for answers.

 _"You may not remember the fall, little one, though now you live out a second chance dearly paid for. You have a great destiny before you, and the fate of Hyrule, nay, the world_ _depends upon thee."_

A skeletal hand clasped the hilt of a fearsome sword sheathed on its hip.

 _"Now then, little warrior, do you possess the **courage** to fight evil?"_

Link swallowed, feeling his palms sweat. It was surreal, like a dream he'd had before. Were this apparition a figment of his boyhood dreams to save the day or not, something inside him _could not_ refuse the call.

He stood tall, and nodded his assent.

 _"Well met,"_ the ghost knight seemed to approve, _"First, a lesson in swordplay, for the long road ahead."_

Link looked to his feet, and saw out of the fog a short sword had appeared. The scabbard was a scuffed blue, and the hilt was made of wood with a small red jewel inset. He picked up the weapon and drew it, feeling somehow _familiar_ with its aged grip.

Despite their size difference, Link steeled himself in a serious look, and met the ghost's sword in his own salute. The clang rang out, and they drew apart in ready fighting stances.

 _"Come then, child of destiny!"_

Link braced himself, and charged with a battle cry.

* * *

He woke up what felt like hours later.

Link was lying back on his bed, the ocarina held in his hands. His arms ached, as if he'd been swinging them all day, but it was a good pain that promised a fiercer it a dream or not, something in the boy did not dismiss the apparition or its words.

He held the ocarina aloft, remembering the melody he had played before. Trying a few careful notes, the blonde boy closed his eyes and began to play once more.

The delicate notes of the serenade rang clear in his room. The azure walls of the domain seemed brighter, and the sound of distant waterfalls and flowing river magnified. The heart of the river valley was wrapped all around him, and Link lost himself in the recital of the ancient song.

As his last note trailed off, he jumped at the unexpected sound of clapping.

Link turned to the door of his room, and saw the girl from the throne room standing in the doorway. Up close, he could see she was taller than him by a bit, yet she didn't seem to be a grown up yet. The light of the chamber made her amber eyes sparkle with curiosity.

"That was beautiful," her voice was soft, the dulcet tones made his ears warm.

Still, he felt pleased at the audience, rather than embarrassed. A wide smile graced his childish face, "Thanks I haven't played all that much before."

"Really? You're quite good for an amateur. Not that I've seen anyone play an ocarina before."

The red-scaled girl startled, remembering herself.

"Oh, my apologies, I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?"

She drew herself up with a clawed hand over her heart.

"My name is Mipha, daughter of the King."

Link's eyes went wide, and he hopped off the bed to copy her gesture clumsily.

"Oh! Then you must be the princess! My name's Link."

The Zora girl giggled in spite of herself, finding his earnest attempt at protocol amusing.

"Please, just Mipha will do. You're welcome here as one of us now."

Link nodded, feeling a bit warm. It felt like he had been alone for such a long time that the concept of having others, _a family_ , was almost foreign to him.

"Thank you, it means a lot to me."

"Oh my!" Mipha's eyes went wide, and she stepped forward to gently lift his forearm, "You're hurt..."

There was a bruise there that Link didn't remember having. A memory of the skeleton knight riposte brought a twinge of pain, but that hadn't been real... _had it?_

"Hold still please, this should only take a moment."

The Zora girl held her clawed delicate hands over his arm, and a turquoise glow began to shine. Link stared in childlike wonder as the marred skin cleared away, and he felt the lingering stiffness disappear. His mouth cracked a toothy grin and he couldn't help the joyful cry at the miracle he'd just seen.

"Wow! That was real magic! You must be like a fairy or something!"

Mipha laughed, gentle bells ringing in the small chamber, "Well I'm not quite a Great Fairy, but thank you for the compliment." Her eyes shone, finding the little Hylian's reaction adorable.

Link looked up at her, suitably impressed.

"I've heard fairy tales about magic princesses, but I never thought I'd find one in real life!"

Mipha laughed again, waving him off, "Oh please, I'm just an ordinary Zora I'm afraid. It's a gift that I was born with, I'm doing my best to practice so I can protect those dear to me."

If anything, Link's opinion of the princess only soared. This was the storybook princess he had grown up hearing tales of from his father, who lived the very same ideals he'd been raised to uphold.

"That's why I want to be a swordsman," he said proudly, "so I can keep people safe too."

The Zora princess smiled, and patted his cheek with her delicate hand.

"Then I feel much safer knowing we'll have such a great swordsman to protect us."

The older girl stayed to chat briefly before heading out for the night. They had said their polite goodbyes, and it was as she was turning to leave that something ticked inside of Link, and though there was a warm feeling at the tips of his ears, he clasped her hand and knelt there on the floor.

The Zora girl looked down, and found the solemn look on his face of a man many times older.

"Princess Mipha," he said, _and were his eyes ever so blue_ , she noticed.

"If ever you are in harm's way, I will protect you. No matter where, or how fierce the enemy. I will _always_ protect you."

The Zora heir found herself at a loss for words. Lacking any words to respond to such an oath, she merely held the earnest child's hand and smiled warmly, and as he grinned back she knew it was the right reply.

Thus, the red string of fate was woven.


	3. Chapter 3

The horizon turned to pastel pink and gold, as the night's ink began to gradually recede.

Link watched his breath huff in front of his chapped hands, and drew the wool jerkin more tightly about his little shoulders.

The tall mountain range of the Lanayru province surrounded the waterlogged bank he stood on, and with a few other young Zora this morning he milled about waiting to begin the early morning fishing.

Due to the abundance of the waterways in the domain, the primary export of the Zora people, aside from their precious metals and alloys used in forging their weapons, was fish. Many of the young would often accompany parents for daily chores, and the catch would later be divided amongst the local markets and otherwise packed into crates with ice to be shipped off for trade with the neighboring regions. When the green-hued advisor Muzu had explained it in a droning tone, Link had none the less listened with rapt attention. There was something about fishing that really appealed to him, almost like an ancestral calling to rod and reel.

So he was very much surprised when he first saw a Zora dive into the water and catch a Hyrule bass barehanded.

There were longboats being drawn up from the docks, with pegs along their sides for securing the nets that morning. The fish would be left underwater until transport, to preserve their freshness. As Link was only as proficient at swimming as a Hylian child ought to be, he would be staying on one of the longboats to tie up the catches and keep the nets secured. He was disappointed he couldn't join the others, but the middle aged Zora woman organizing his group that morning ruffled his hair and promised him some day he would.

Waiting idly, he was looking about again when he caught a black-finned Zora child staring at him from off to the side. He smiled, and received one in return.

"Hello."

"Haa, you're the outsider that came yesterday?" A girl, if the tone of voice was any indication.

He nodded, and she seemed to stare at his blonde locks as he did so.

"You're...so _different_. Does your fluffy stuff get in the way when you swim?"

Link tried to say something, and broke out in a poorly-suppressed grin. He was expecting to be shunned or made fun of, but the innocent curiosity was... _cute._

The black and cream colored Zora girl pouted slightly.

"You don't have to laugh, I've never seen Hylian tadpoles before."

The blonde boy shook his head.

"No, I just didn't think my hair would be so interesting. I think your fins are much cooler."

The girl brightened up, and stroked her headfin proudly.

"Yah, thanks outsider! I wonder what having your fluff would feel like on my head. Hmm..."

"Link."

She looked at him quizzically, then her yellow eyes blinked in realization.

"Torfeau, nice to meet you!"

The call went out, and the boats began to push off. The pair wished each other luck, and Torfeau paddled into the water alongside the boats while the adults cut in deeper heading for the nets. Link felt a rising sense of excitement as the burble of wake splashed behind them, and the early morning sun glinted off the river like amber jewels just below the surface.

The chores were enjoyable. Despite the shill, Link quickly worked up a sweat, hauling up the lip of the fishing nets with the adults help and slipping them over the pegs on the boat's rim. When one was fully loaded he jumped nimbly to the next boat, which delighted the Zora children swimming alongside, and they made a game out of passing him fish that he'd deposit into one of the nets by the side.

The time passed quickly. The sky overhead had mellowed into a watercolor of goldenrod and pink, and the land was illuminated in the pale light of a newly born day. Link was lying back in one of the boats with a hand brushing the cool surface of the water, and looked up when he felt himself touch a fin. Torfeau's curious face smiled up at him from where she was swishing along.

"We made a good catch today," She chirped.

The Hylian nodded, and dangled his fingers playfully before drawing them back with a laugh as Torfeau snapped at them with a grin.

"It was fun, I like fishing," Link said.

"Is it what you want to do when you're grown up? My parents are fisherzora."

"Oh no, I like doing it for fun, but I want to grow up to be a swordsman."

"Swords _man_? Like a guard?" Torfeau cocked her head.

"Yes," Link's childish face had a somber smile as he lashed up the boat, "I want to protect people."

Below the domain proper, there were cables and crates for the loading of fish to be taken to the market for transport. Those for the domain's own food supply would be hoisted and distributed among the chilled pots in the kitchens. Link and the Zora children helped load their glittering bounty, until the adults waved them off to scatter screaming into the shallows where they splashed each other and swam about.

Link had shed his jerkin, and was diving along with the others in a pair of form fitting shorts made of a blue material produced in the domain. The weave of their water kit was beyond question, and Link found he preferred to feel the water and sun on himself bare-chested.

The young Zora that swam about with him were faster, dipping through the glittering morning waves like slips of color from an errant brush. They filtered about him, curious about the new playmate with pale skin that didn't have any fins at all. The rough housing and water wrestling continued all the way to the pebbles and sand of one of the embankments lining the cliffs of the domain, and the tuckered out children floated lazily or lay on their backs with Link feeling the sun warm them.

"You know," began a green hued Zora, "Even if you can't swim too fast, you're pretty good at climbing rocks. You can come help my dad and me do stonework on the pillars sometime!"

The blond boy smiled, eyes still closed as he relished the warm sun rays drying off his body, "Thanks Ledo, I'll come with you sometime."

Torfeau stuck out her tongue, "Boring! Fishing's much more fun!"

Link laughed and sat up as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Gotta agree with Torfeau, 'cause it tastes so good when you're done."

He was rewarded with the girl's yellow eyes crinkling in a prideful grin; It was her family's profession after all.

"So how come you'd rather protect people than fish? What made you pick?" That curious cock of her head again.

His head still felt foggy. Ever since he'd woken up on that caravan it was like something was missing, something he forgot. Even his memories of his father were so patch worked and frayed now, he barely even remembered his own mother.

However, storytelling is a magic all on its own, and the long nights with his father gesturing against the backdrop of a fireplace burned certain inspiration into his boyhood identity. The myth and fable, planting seeds of heroism.

"When I was little, my father used to tell me stories," Link said, looking up at the Zobodan Highland peaks with a melancholy to his smile.

"What kind of stories? You remember any?" One of the other children piped up, a lavender hued girl named Gaddison.

"Well, some I guess. It's been a while..."

"Tell us! I've never heard stories from outsiders before!"

The young Zora, with wide yellow eyes, quickly gathered in a semicircle about the Hylian lad, and Link rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. It seemed he'd been volun _told_ whether he liked it or not.

"A long long time ago..." He began, trying to emulate that solemn tone from time-worn memories of his father.

 _"...there existed a kingdom where a golden power lay hidden. It was a prosperous land blessed with green forests, tall mountains, and peace. This was the great land of Hyrule."_

 _"But one day, a black-armored man of great evil coveted the golden power and took it for himself. With its strength at his command, he spread darkness across the kingdom. But then, when all hope had died, and the hour of doom seemed at hand..."_

 _"...a young man clothed in green appeared as if from nowhere. Wielding the blade of evil's bane, he journeyed across the land and freed the people from the yolk of the tyrant in black armor. He wielded magic that could let him change night to day, see the invisible, and even stride through the very flow of time itself."_

 _"He walked through the Lost Woods, timeless wilderness in which he saved the forest kin from a phantom of evil."_

 _"He climbed the ferocious chasm of Death Mountain, and slew a fiery dragon that threatened the Goron people."_

 _"He journeyed through water and ice to free Zora's Domain from the terrible spell of the man in black armor, and a creature that warped water itself."_

 _"He delved the horrors of the temple of shadows, and faced a hidden abomination of evil in the endless dark below."_

 _"He traveled the inhospitable dunes of the Gerudo desert, and saved the tribe of warrior women from the grasp of two evil witches."_

 _"At last, this hero assaulted the very fortress in which the black-armored tyrant had gathered his power. They fought ferociously, as the blade of evil's bane and terrible magic shook the very castle to pieces, and still in the ruins they fought. At last, even as the tyrant twisted his body into a monstrous shape, the hero cut him down and sealed the dark one away. The great king of evil was no more, and the golden power returned to give the land light."_

 _"This man, who traveled through time to save the land, was known as the Hero of Time. The hero's tale was passed down through generations until it became legend, and the sword of evil's bane was laid to rest in the lost woods, to sleep again forevermore..."_

There was a chorus of cheers as the applause rang all about him, and Link snapped out of his story time reverie with his cheeks colored mildly at all the attention. It had taken quite some time for the full tale, as Link could see now that the sun was at its zenith. The Zora children overwhelmed the poor blonde boy with questions and praise for the exciting legend.

"That was awesome!" Gaddison wrung her fins in an excited gesture, "King Dorephan never told us that story before!"

"How could you use magic to travel time?" a black scaled Zora named Rivan was wonderstruck, gesturing wildly with his clawed hands, "I mean, like what if you see yourself in the past or something?"

Little Torfeau had a glazed look in her eyes, enchanted by the legend. Dreams of sword fighting, monster slaying, and courageous heroics danced in her mind. Her auburn eyes settled on the young Hylian, and she bit her lip to resist clamoring for another exciting tale.

"Alright everyone, we should probably get going," a sensible suggestion from the black scaled Bazz, who was the tallest of their group, "It's almost lunch, and I gotta go join my old man for spear practice."

"Awww," Rivan sighed, while Gaddison next to him was already swimming back to the central terrace for training, "My dad wants me to go too. I'd rather keep swimming..."

The Zora brightened then, remembering something.

"Hey, Link! My dad asked me to bring you to see the guard trainees. You wanna come along?"

The blond boy grinned and nodded, he always found battle craft fascinating.

He waved goodbye to his new playmates, and dove into the water to follow Rivan and Bazz with some encouragement. If only he had fins like theirs, cutting through the water looked like so much fun.

The wish was twice as earnest when he saw them swim _right up the waterfalls cascading from the domain itself!_

Link followed the two black scaled Zora, still trying to twist his neck every which way to look at everything at once.

He could see female Zora that went about their daily errands, with silk slings that acted as a sort of purse. Everything from fruit and fish to rupees seemed to be held in those, which could be twisted closed and snug at their back for swimming. Passing some of the guards stationed about the walkways, Link observed that even the armor was sparse. He supposed that the Zora didn't care much for clothes like Hylians did, and to his childish mind it made sense. Swimming was more fun bare-chested.

Another thing he appreciated was how many of the walkways were designed to have shallow running water, which felt amazing to walk in. The textured stonework beneath offered firm purchase for their feet, and the Hylian boy resisted the urge to try sliding down the incline.

Arriving at a bridge to one of the cliff tops, Link followed Bazz and Rivan to what looked like the training grounds for the Zora Guard. A grassy knoll was cleared out, with wooden dummies and targets set up. There, dozens of Zora adults moved in fierce exercises, with their unique alloy weapons flashing in the midday sun, scarcely more than quicksilver blurs. Blunted wooden weapons were being used in some of the one-on-one combat matches, and a fearsome sergeant overlooked the entire assembly.

"Hoi!"

Link, Bazz and Rivan waved back to the blue scaled soldier that welcomed them. Despite the peaked helmet and breastplate, the resemblance to Rivan was uncanny, "Glad you tadpoles could make it. You certainly took your time fishing!"

Rivan nodded shamelessly, "Hey dad," gesturing with his short arm between him and the Hylian newcomer, "Link, this is my dad Trello. He says he already met you by the bridge."

Link nodded, and shook the older Zora's blue hand.

"And my dad's over there," Bazz indicated with a sharp salute to the fearsome instructor, who nodded his black scaled head and returned the salute from where he observed.

"He's usually busy with the troops, so we won't get to see him much even in practice. He told me he's mentoring Princess Mipha in spear fighting now too."

Link blinked.

"King Dorephan's daughter? She never mentioned that..."

"Oho, you met our lovely princess I take it?" Trello smiled as he leaned on his Zora spear.

Link nodded cheerfully.

Bazz and Rivan were surprised. "I don't think _I've_ talked to the princess myself ever, and I was born here..." Rivan scratched his cheek, mildly curious.

The Hylian boy shrugged.

"She said hello when I was putting my things away yesterday. She's really nice."

Trello agreed, "Many of us in the guard are so very fond of her. Ever since she was little she would come see us after a battle and do her best with her fledgling healer's magic to soothe our wounds. She has a rare kindness to her that inspires loyalty."

Link's smile matched Trello's.

"She really does sound like a storybook princess."

"Ha ha ha!" The adult Zora evidently found his reaction amusing. Chuckling, Trello kneeled down to confide in the young ones.

"You know, while Lady Mipha is royalty of this domain, she's still a child like any one of you," Trello said gently.

"I know we must observe etiquette, but it would be nice if you tadpoles tried to talk to our princess some more and invited her to play with you. She's still very young to assume her duties so early. She deserves to have a childhood herself."

The blue adult shook his head.

"Bah, maybe I'm just too sentimental. Never mind me. Go on boys, the other apprentices are practicing by the cedars."

The three's eyes lit up at once, and the two Zora children and one Hylian sprinted over to a group of young ones their age removed from the main training field. There, they were being passed wooden training spears and herded by an exasperated adult as they lined up near some targets.

"No! No! Don't bite the spear!"

The harried instructor turned to the new arrivals and gestured to the pile of training weapons on the grass.

"You three, grab some spears and get in line!"

Link felt his heart pump faster as he held the cool wood in his little hands, standing between Bazz and Gaddison, who had come early. It was strange, but he had the faintest feeling that he had done this before. _All_ of this. He almost felt like Rivan was supposed to drop his...

 _Thwack_

There was some laughter as Rivan hopped on one little foot, nursing his fin that the spear shaft had bruised. Link stared for a moment, and shook his head.

 _I must be imagining things,_ he thought to himself.

They settled into a wide 'horse' stance, spear at the ready. The instructor called out the rhythm, guiding them to rise and thrust.

With a battlecry echoed by a dozen other fledgling Zoras, the Hylian boy bared his teeth and struck true.

* * *

Link was exhausted.

His muscles ached, arms and chest tight with the over-exertion that came with spear training for many hours. Muscle memory and endurance were important to hone for combat fundamentals, long before any serious techniques would be introduced. Even as an outsider, Link was welcomed into the training class and promised an opportunity as one of the guard if he proved himself like any other. The Zora instructors were also of the opinion that those who saw the guard occupation as a passing fancy would quickly wash out of the grueling training.

Link couldn't help but relish the challenge.

Something about the discipline captured his attention. He was told he was a natural, but it felt more like someone else was moving his hands. He would step, block, parry and thrust, and the execution came to him as if from a dream.

 _Shining mail and ocean blue rippling with quicksilver jabbing in a veteran grasp._

He blinked, that strange feeling of something half-remembered dancing in his mind.

The periods of déjà vu were beginning to worry the boy. He didn't think he was crazy, but something wasn't right. He missed his father, but for some reason he didn't want to admit, that wound felt almost... _old_ and buried. It hadn't been that long, and he felt awful for not caring enough as his mental state seemed to suggest.

Morose, the Hylian boy kicked at a stray pebble. He'd split off from Bazz and the other trainees after they were done, promising to meet up for dinner. The lakeside reservoir of the great Zora dam was peaceful now, and he absently wondered how long he'd been lost in thought to wander there.

 _How did I even know where this is?_ Link frowned as the notion crossed his troubled mind.

It was frustrating, like a puzzle that was missing key pieces. The blonde boy sighed and stared at his reflection in the water. Golden locks, stormy blue eyes, large red headfin.

 _...what?_

The splash shocked the now soaked Hylian back onto his rump, staring open-mouthed as a tiny red Zora child had just burst from the water's edge to grin wildly at him, a large pink shell held triumphantly in his little grasp.

"Hello there! Look what I've found!"

Link could only stare in astonishment as the strange little Zora hopped about in front of him showing off the shiny conch shell, his red headfin long enough that it was bumping the ground as he did so.

"I was swimming extra deep today, around the grotto entrances that run to the sea, you see! And I found this lovely specimen jammed between some rocks, can you believe it?"

His voice was high, and he seemed to be too eager to get the words out, rushing to express his excitement. Despite being caught unawares, Link couldn't help but grin. The boy's happiness was infectious.

"Hey, that's a pretty cool treasure you found."

"Thank you friend!" Big golden eyes blinked as the youngster realized his error.

"Oh forgive me!" He coughed into a little red fist and drew himself up to his diminutive height, "My name is Prince Sidon, pleasure to meet you!"

Link's eyes widened. Not so much that he was surprised that he'd encountered yet more royalty, but that someone as huge as King Dorephan could be related to such a small bundle of energy such as this.

"Link, the pleasure's mine."

The red scaled child shook his hand with a wide grin that almost sparkled.

"Link? That's a cool name!"

"Well I think your conch is cooler, have you tried blowing it yet?"

Yellow eyes stared up in puzzlement, "Huh?"

Link held his hand out politely, and lifted the shiny pink conch shell he was given to his lips. A deep breath, and then a horn's bellow sounded across the reservoir lake, ringing in echoes from the distant peaks.

Sidon's eyes, if possible, were even wider as their sparkle matched his teeth.

"That was _AMAZING!_ "

He was hopping in place again, and Link handed back the shell so he could kneel next to the little guy trying to emulate him.

"See, purse your lips like that, then let the air build up in your center, and sort of..."

The horn blow of the conch was even _louder_ this time. The little Zora's lungs belied his stature indeed.

The red scaled child laughed with his new instrument, and Link found himself laughing too, his worries forgotten. They soon made it a game to see what other shiny things they could find by the water. The pink conch held the place of honor on a stump by the water's edge, and Link collected some water-smoothed quartz and mussel shells with rainbow patterned interiors. Sidon explored by his side, darting over to personally show him every new thing he found. Link couldn't help but be charmed by the cheerful bundle of energy.

Soon they'd amassed a little treasure horde, and with a wink they both buried their riches in the sand by the docks.

With the exception of the conch, that is. That was held proudly by the prince, eager to take it home and show his father.

"You know," The Zora child said looking up at Link, "You're the nicest outsider I've ever met."

The blonde boy chuckled, "Well you're the nicest treasure hunter I've ever met."

"Ha ha!" The Zora's teeth sparkled again, "Can you come play with me again tomorrow?"

"Sure I can, I'll show you how to make a whistle out of a leaf this time."

"Wow! Really?"

There was a melodic giggle, and Link felt his ears twitch.

"I'm glad to see you've found my wayward brother."

Walking up the path towards them, an ornate trident over her shoulder, was the Zora princess Mipha. Link thought she looked even prettier in the light of the setting sun.

"Hey sis!"

The princess huffed and patted Sidon's head as he rushed up to her and began showing off his new conch.

"You should know better than to wander all alone up here Sidon, I was worried about you."

Her chastisement melted away under the adorable assault of her little brother's enthusiasm. She clapped when he blew a ringing note on the conch, and looked towards the Hylian boy with a gentle smile.

"Well, I'm thankful you took the time to look after Sidon. I know he can get up to a lot of mischief."

Link grinned, "It's alright. We had fun treasure hunting together."

"I'm glad. Shall we head home?"

 _Home._

Link had opened his mouth to reply, unable to find the words.

He had a home now. It was such a strange feeling, as if he was _used_ to being all alone, as if something essential deep inside him had withered and died long ago, but now had been replanted in this gentle place. The sundown casting amber and goldenrod hues over the jutting peaks of Lanayru, with the elegant city of Zora's Domain shining like marble and gold in the light. The sight of the princess bathed in waning sunlight, her hand towards him, welcoming him into the fold. He bit his lip as he felt hot around his eyelids, willing the moisture away.

"Yes."

Link reached up, too bashful to meet her bemused eyes, and held her hand as Sidon swung the other. The three of them walked down the trail back to the domain, heading home for the night.

A conch shell rang out once more, and the laughter of three followed.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Here's an update after a long hiatus. Just to be clear, I've made some minor updates for clarity in the previous chapters.

* * *

It had been one year.

A sun-kissed blonde clambered over the luminous archway of the Domain's grand entrance. His tanned skin hardly broke a sweat as he snatched a stonemason chisel from his tool belt with a confidence belying his age. Bare chested, auburn locks tied up in a ponytail, and the water-woven blue shorts of the Zora people clinging to his legs, the boy balanced himself over a framed hole in the archway with a section of stone suspended by rope nearby. Carefully guiding the new keystone as directed by a wizened Zora below, the Hylian child rapped the stone into its proper place, and set about shaving down the excess with a finely tuned chisel.

"Smart work tadpole! You'll put me out of a job soon!"

The hunched green Zora below held out an arm after his wry comment, and the boy above unlimbered his tool belt and dropped the waxed cotton webbing into the elder's grip with the practice of many afternoons. Gripping the beautiful stonework, the boy tensed for a moment, and then somersaulted backwards onto the bridge below.

"Heh, _very_ impressive," The green Zora drawled sarcastically, "I'll have you know when _I_ was your age I could flip _twice_ like that when my missus was watching."

The boy laughed, and brilliant blue eyes under wild, untamed hair regarded the elder fondly.

"Guess I better practice. You need anything else Lodyn?"

"Oh no, you've done plenty for this old trout. Thanks again for covering for my little sprog."

The elder leaned in faux-conspiratorially.

"I suspect he's trying to butter up the secretary's apprentice again."

The blonde furrowed his eyebrows and sighed.

"You think it'll work this time? Ledo's been trying to get Laflat to notice him for ages."

"Fortune favors the brave, little tadpole."

A polite goodbye, and the Hylian child stretched his limbs after the morning full of masonry. He was quite strapping for his age, although the constant climbing and swimming was bound to whip him into shape.

He perched right at the mouth of one of the smaller waterfalls that lined the flowing walkways of the Domain's terraces, and dived into the open air with a smile on his face.

The wind whistled about him as vertigo took his body, and the world around blurred. There was a crash, and the world became a flurry of bubbles as the cool lake welcomed him back. The boy took pleasure in the _natural_ feeling of the heartspring waters wrapping about him. He floated there underwater for a moment, the weightlessness so very relaxing as the ripples of light danced overhead. Huffing, the boy kicked his feet, and broke the surface with a splash.

" _Liiiink!"_

Turning, the Hylian youth saw a pale lavender blur cut through the water towards him, and he braced with a laugh as he was bowled over. Despite his best efforts, the blond boy couldn't match the lean aquatic body wrestling him into a hold. There was a furious bubble and froth-splashed struggle, and then Link tapped out as the slightly older Zora youth caught him in a headlock.

"Alright, you win again Gaddison."

The female Zora laughed triumphantly and released her captive. Of all the playmates among the young Zora, Gaddison preferred to pick on Link the most when it came to her boisterous water wrestling. Rather than a bully, the girl enjoyed the Hylian's company because he always struggled as best he could, and never made fun of her deep voice.

"Don't feel bad, you'll beat me someday," The lilac colored girl grinned at Link's mock-pout.

"Are you coming to training tonight?"

She nodded, and floated lazily on her back next to him.

"The Demon Sarge is going to be coming by again, someday I'll have his job, just you wait!"

Link chuckled, "I thought you wanted to be a heroine?"

"Oh I'll go save the world after I get my rank, of course."

The taller female punctuated her statement with a splash, and the pair laughed together.

"Oh! I almost forgot," The lilac Zora adopted a no-nonsense expression, "We're meeting _you know where_ at sunset for _you know what._ "

Link schooled himself into a serious expression and nodded gravely.

"Understood."

Gaddison smiled, and swam away with a wave.

Link side-stroked idly among the great pillars of the Domain's waterfront. Here in the shade, many Zora flitted through the waters like a pedestrian street might have operated elsewhere in Hyrule. The multiple colors and chatter of the everyday bustle was easy to get lost in, though Link was one of the scant few that bothered to use the ladders over swimming up the falls.

Once more up above the Domain proper, the Hylian boy made his way to the markets. Passing the crowded stalls amid multicolored canvas awning, exotic aromas and conversation, Link paused at one of his favorite grills to hop on a stool and buy a steaming bowl of Porgy stew from a wizened Zora with a timeworn smile. He hummed to himself as the warm broth tickled his taste buds, just a touch of garlic and some salt really complimented the flavor of the fish.

"Looks good. Mind if I join you?"

Link turned to find Rivan sliding in to the stool next to him, motioning for a bowl of the same from the old Zora chef. He slipped off a trainee guard's helm and set it on the counter beside him with a sigh.

"Dad was my squad leader today, he's always so much harsher when I'm there. I'm so tired my fins are wilting..."

The Hylian shrugged and passed a small saltshaker to his friend as another bowl came by. "He just cares about you, better to sweat now than bleed later."

"Easy for you to say, both you and Bazz are demons with a spear."

"HA. Don't let the sergeant hear you say that, I don't feel like getting knocked out again."

The pair chuckled together.

"Sometimes I'm a little jealous of you Link..."

The Hylian looked up at his friend in surprise. Rivan was one of the most easygoing Zora he knew, and he could hardly think of any reason the cheerful guy would be envious of _him._

"Why do you say that?" he asked around a mouthful of stew.

The dark-scaled Zora stirred his bowl idly, and sighed.

"I'm alright in training, and don't have any special talents for craftwork. Seeing Bazz perform like he does is expected of the Demon Sarge's son, and even I could someday measure up to him I guess, but you..."

The Zora shook his head as if warding off a migraine.

"I don't want to feel this way, it's just that we both started training around the same time, but you've got this natural talent for fighting that makes me wonder if I should even bother. You've beaten trained guards and even Bazz is learning some things from you."

He stared off into space with a melancholy look.

"I just wish there was something I was good at, that I could stand out with."

Link was caught unawares by his friend's trouble. He'd never been one to boast or show off in regards to weapon skill, however there was an unspoken reason for his uncanny fighting prowess that couldn't be easily shared.

Despite his secret, the Hylian wouldn't spurn a friend in need. Link planted his hand on Rivan's shoulder and spoke earnestly.

"There's only one of you Rivan. It doesn't matter if you're the perfect knight or an average fisher, you're _you._ I'd rather have you watch my back than the best of the Hylian royal guard."

Rivan looked away embarrassed and Link could only chuckle.

"You're always taking care of all of us in the gang even when we're goofing off like kids, sometimes I think you're the best at being a dad yourself."

The Zora said nothing, but closed his eyes and nodded.

"Thanks Link, that's been bothering me for a while."

He smiled and gathered up his helm once more, "Well, duty calls. Maybe I'm best at doing the ordinary, hmm?"

The dark scaled Zora thought to himself for a moment.

"A dad, huh?"

He shook his head with a smile, "Maybe I'll be a real dad someday. The best dad there is. That's my goal."

Link shrugged, and then his caught himself.

"Oh yeah, Gaddison told me we're meeting _you know where_ at sunset for _you know what."_

Rivan looked discreetly around the empty grill with the cook's back turned and nodded in understanding, "Got it."

Parting ways, Link left to return to his abode. Passing into the residential platforms, Link slipped through the woven curtain to his room.

Much different from the sparse chamber he was given when he first arrived, Link's room was now strewn with mementos and memories of his first year amongst the Domain. His 'war chest' as he called it still held his father's sword, as well as a repaired traveller's bow that he kept unstrung with a quiver and a score of well-worn arrows. Trello had taught him the basics of hunting fowl, and Link found he enjoyed the stalk and shot of archery in the highlands. On the walls were childish drawings that he'd made with his friends out of charcoal, more precious as memories than for their questionable artistic merit. He kept a pair of leather boots for venturing out of the waters of the domain, and his tunics, trousers and a rain cloak were folded in the wooden drawers.

He flopped on his bed with a sigh.

The conversation with Rivan replayed itself in his mind. He could acknowledge he had some measure of natural talent like Bazz did, but there was something he had never shared with even his closest friends, of which he wasn't sure he fully understood himself.

Links hands drifted along the seam of his bed and the wall, and found the hidden pouch just below. His fingers closed around smooth porcelain, and he withdrew the blue instrument inside.

Bringing the mouthpiece to his lips, the notes came easily now. Sometimes he played idly, almost unaware of the fingering as the melodies came forth. Though on some occasions, his music would have quite an otherworldly effect.

As he felt his consciousness give way to the roaring white and fog, Link prepared himself for what had become a secret duty.

* * *

Once more he was in a formless landscape of white.

He could feel, hear and see. Not a dream perhaps, but not a crazy figment of his imagination. There was a purpose to these visions, and Link suspected they had something to do with the premonitions and strange feelings he'd been subjected to.

Then he saw it once more.

The skeleton knight was no less imposing than when Link had first glimpsed it. a single eye burned red and regarded him from ivy-strewn armor of an archaic design.

 _"We meet again."_

Link nodded, and reaching out into the ether, felt his hand close on the wooden hilt of that sword once more.

 _"This next skill is the greatest of the hidden arts I have taught you to this point, and it may test the levels of your endurance. Do you still wish to master it?"_

Link nodded solemnly.

 _"Very well, we will begin."_

Like many other times Link had trained in the dream realm, the spectral knight drilled him mercilessly in esoteric techniques he had never imagined. While the Demon Sergeant's guard training was based in the rote practice and sparring for defense of the domain against Lizafos, Moblins and other such monsters, the training from the skeleton knight was something else entirely.

Link learned how to dodge and leap just at the cutting edge of harm's way, expending the least energy while staying within range of his counter. Drawing on his own power, he learned to deflect a strike vector to parry with a window for counter attack, and the uses for anything from backswing to outside pressure on the opponent's guard. Displacing the enemy in a sword lock, the different angles for cross cuts, crossbar and leading leg responses, and even techniques that drew on whispers of magic to aid in facing much larger foes with a nimble backflip or lunge.

After what had seemed like hours, Link collapsed to his knee, sweat soaking his auburn hair. The skeleton knight seemed content with his progress, acknowledging he had sufficiently learned the lost art of the _helm splitter_.

 _"Against fully armored foes, you will stagger them with your shield and leap into the air over the enemy's head and greet them with your blade by immediately striking from behind. The hidden skill of helm splitter has been passed on."_

Breathing heavily, Link stared up at the apparition of his ghostly teacher.

"When am I going to learn what all this is for? When will the time come?"

The spectral knight regarded him with an almost cold impassivity.

 _"Soon."_

The tri-pronged helmet turned to the white sky, and gazed at something far off.

 _"_ _The flow of time is always cruel... It's speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it... A thing that doesn't change with time is a memory of younger days..."_

The red eye once more gazed at the Hylian youth.

 _"Remember, child of destiny, the choices you make now will define you, and shape the warrior that is to come. For one day..."_

A light seemed to gather as Link once more slipped between the world of dream and waking.

 _"You will venture beyond all that you know."_

* * *

Link awoke in a cold sweat.

Glancing to the window, he was startled to see it was nearing sunset by the burnished sunlight streaking the amber sky. He jumped off his bed and buckled on a belt with a pouch at the small of his back and a simple diving knife. A wrapped packet was deposited into his pouch, though he remained bare-chested and barefoot. If he didn't hurry up he'd be late.

Sprinting along the luminescent walkways of the domain, Link took the railing in a single bound and arced out into the air, flipping gracefully as he crashed below the surface of the lake. Gasping as he surfaced, he swam to the cliff sides and began to climb along a narrow mountain path, dripping as he air-dried.

The landscape was bathed in the amber of the twilight of the day. Link enjoyed the feeling of the soil and grass on his bare feet, breathing in the crisp clear air of the valley. Surrounded by the spine of the Lanayru mountain range, the Domain was a jewel of shining crystal waters and flourishing greenery. Passing an outcrop of luminous stone that was beginning to flicker with its nocturnal brilliance, Link came to Ralis Pond at the shoulder of the western peak. He glanced around to make sure he wasn't followed, as was protocol, and then slipped off the south western lip of the cliffside. Navigating a narrow rabbit track, he paused in the bushes and called out, "Fluffy white clouds!" to which an answering "Clear blue Zora!" was given. Smiling, the Hylian youth emerged to a hidden pond in which a handful of his friends were waiting for him.

"Linny~!"

The blonde couldn't help but grin. It seemed despite their fearless leader's best efforts to keep their secret base, well, _secret,_ a certain pushy Zora could always find her way in.

Kodah was the daughter of the Domain's inn, waving cheerfully to the subject of her pet name from the warm water's edge of the hidden pond. Next to her was Torfeau, the fisherzora playmate Link met the day he arrived. Rivan looked up from a chat with Bazz, both boys perched on a rock by the water. Gaddison was lazily swimming circles as she hummed a tune to herself.

"Nice to see you too Kodah, how are things at the inn?"

The girl flipped her headfin errantly and huffed, "Too busy lately with all the traders that came in for the season. I've spent more time cooped up washing sheets than swimming!"

"Aww," Torfeau moped, "I could never do that, I go stir crazy indoors."

She looked up at Link and smiled, "Thanks again for helping me with the Sizzlefin yesterday."

The Hylian slipped into the water with them and sighed in relaxation as the warm wet embrace relaxed his muscles after the long day, "You're welcome, I like helping out."

While Torfeau beamed Kodah pouted.

"Linny, you haven't been by the inn for a while, why don't I make you lunch?"

The mention of food got his attention, "That sounds really nice Kodah, thanks."

Rivan whistled at the exchange.

"How come you've never made me lunch?"

There was a splash as the girl pushed him into the water, and laughter all around.

"Looks like the gang's just about all here," Bazz remarked with his lopsided grin.

"Almost all," Link replied quietly.

"My apologies, did I keep you waiting?"

He knew that voice.

Stepping through the bushes was a female zora with brilliant red scales that was known to all. Meeting her amber eyes amid the greetings, Link waved to the princess.

"Not at all Lady Mipha," Bazz was the picture of royal guard courtesy, "We were just about to begin."

"Ah, lovely!"

The crimson princess slipped into the water next to Link, and the group clustered together as Bazz coughed into his fist.

"Alright, roll call. Rivan?"

"Here."

"Torfeau?"

"Yes yes!"

"Gaddison?"

"Mhmm."

"Link?"

"Here."

"Kodah?"

"Present~!"

"Lady Mipha?"

"Present."

"Alright, I declare this meeting of the Big Bad Bazz Brigade now open!"

The youth cheered in the clearing. Often the group would gather for their romps about the Domain and the surrounding countryside. What had started as an 'elite unit' of future royal guards later grew to include the boisterous Kodah and demure Mipha among their number. No one begrudged the change, and soon they were all fast friends. From a rucksack by the rock Bazz produced a bushel of apples and tinder, and Gaddison set about lighting a fire. The friends gathered about the warmth, spitting the apples on sticks and chatting as they roasted the fruit over the gentle flames. Link produced the wrapped item from his pouch, revealing a flask of honey which elicited delighted thanks from the Zora around him. There amid the smell of honeyed apple and woodfire, the sunset kissed the sky with pearl and auburn hues. The grasses swayed with the breeze, and the easy chatter of friendship filled the clearing.

"The brigade has really grown, you know." Bazz said softly staring off into the horizon.

Torfeau took a bite of her apple and licked away the sticky honey on her lip, "Kinda surprising when you think about the no-good we get up to."

"Hey, we do plenty of good around the domain!" Rivan said as he defended the group's honor.

Gaddison rolled her eyes, "Well _I_ never would have guessed I'd meet so many other reckless fools who think chasing wolves is a fun time."

Link and Bazz both sighed heavily.

"It was _one time._ And we couldn't even ride it."

"Exactly."

The girls all looked at each other knowingly, " _Boys..."_

A peal of laughter filled the air.

As the friends talked amid the sunset, the Hylian youth found himself next to Mipha, who thought for a moment, and then spoke quietly just to him.

"Thank you for inviting me, Link."

"Of course princess."

She mock pouted with her cheeks puffed, "Oh when will you stop calling me that?"

"Oh my apologies your highness."

She pushed him lightly and they chuckled together.

"I really do appreciate the gesture," she admit, "I feel like I've been so busy assuming my duties as the heir that I never got a chance to spend time with others my own age. It was... lonely."

Eyebrows furrowed, Link gently placed his hand on her wrist in a comforting gesture.

"We're all your friends now, Lady Mipha. You'll never be lonely again."

The princess mulled his words as she took a dainty bite of her apple.

"Mmm, well if I get to partake in treats like this I _suppose_ being in the brigade is worth it."

Link smiled, "You're welcome, I'm glad I could cheer you up. I've always looked up to you, you know."

Mipha's amber eyes widened.

"Is that so?"

The Hylian paused, a bit bashful.

"Well, you really are a storybook princess to all of us, no one can forget all the times you've worked your healing magic or just offered a caring hand. I thought you might be lonely with so much expected of you at once."

"Hmm."

The Zora girl hummed thoughtfully, a curious smile on her face as she regarded him.

"And all this time," she said softly, "I was admiring you for such inspiring swordsmanship at such a young age."

"Oh come on, smacking things with a sword isn't so special."

"No but earning Seggin's respect certainly is, you did beat two royal guards in sparring after all. It was an unforgettable match."

The princess looked away as the fire crackled.

"I thought you looked... _cool_."

The Hylian youth felt a spot of color come to his cheeks, and looked away as he took a bite of his honeyed apple. He was saved from answering when Bazz cut in on their conversation.

"Hey Link! No shmoozing with the princess on brigade time!"

Feeling his ear tips burn, the blonde stuck his tongue out at the cheeky Zora, prompting giggles all around.

"We picked a really nice time to come here," Torfeau remarked, tilting her head as she watched the sun sink further into the west. The pastel color scape of the sunset was painting their world in hues of amber, a gentle breeze ruffling the leaves and grass around them. The group of friends spent a moment just basking in each other's company. They'd all come from different walks of life, but over the course of a year they found themselves drawn together. Childish games and goofing off were the ordinary sort of pursuit any young ones in the Domain would get up to, but over time each member of the Brigade felt a sort of bond with each other, and even now relaxing in their 'secret hideout,' shoulders would brush together and glances meet in their special corner of the world.

"Look! You can see the sun shining on Hyrule Castle in the distance!" Kodah spoke up, prompting the youths to crane their necks to catch a glimpse of the white towers.

"Oh, that reminds me," Mipha's dulcet tones drew their attention.

"I overheard a diplomat from the Hylians speaking to my father, it seems their miners discovered some ancient Sheikah construct that has something to do with the Zora. Imagine that!"

"Woah, really? What is it? A temple?" Rivan scratched his chin.

"Yeah, or some kind of weapon?" Torfeau's curious eyes sparkled.

"Oh no, they said it was some great mechanical beast that was used to fight evil, I can't imagine what it could be..." Mipha was being courteous, but her friends could tell her own scholarly curiosity had been piqued.

As the children gossiped excitedly, Link said nothing, feeling an icy hand of dread take hold of his heart. He felt his pulse quicken, and a whisper of a scream of despair echoed in his mind. The foreboding words of his ghostly mentor echoed in his head.

 _Soon._

He tried to bury the unreasonable horror, but meeting Mipha's concerned glance only distressed him further.

For a split second, he saw her with glassy eyes, and a glowing blue spear through her chest.


	5. Chapter 5

_AN: I have made some minor corrections to the previous chapters. Thank you all for your patience, and for all the comments thus far._

* * *

Divine Beast Vah Ruta.

That was the name the Sheikah researchers gave the great construct. An ancient machine built by their tribe in time before memory, used to fight against some terrible evil.

In the eastern shores of Lanayru province, Hylian and Sheikah laborers and scientists worked tirelessly to excavate the massive beast from where it had been discovered below the rock and soil of tens of thousands of years.

Then the proverbial bomb dropped.

There was a prophecy revealed among the Hyrulean seers, that an ancient evil known as Calamity Ganon would return in the near future, and threaten the lands of all races. None could say what form such a Calamity would take, although reports of monster infestations have been rumored to be on the rise in some connection to the crisis, and ancient texts spoke of a _beast of evil, coated in malice_. What fragmented accounts existed in the royal archives seemed to lend credence to the danger.

Evidently the current King took the warnings seriously enough to have requisitioned several expeditions to hunt down ancient technology, which resulted in one such relic being discovered in Lanayru. Naturally, rumors spread and soon the Domain was awash in chatter about the Calamity and the Divine Beast.

Already, there were diplomatic engagements in which the Zora Royalty were discussing what was to be done. The guard captain Seggin and his subordinates didn't agree with relying on a forgotten technology to prepare for the Calamity's return, and the royal court was split between agreeing to the Hylian King's decree and fortifying the Zora borders. King Dorephan made no inclination yet towards any of the arguments, however he was expected to make a decision soon.

Link stared at the distant bustle of activity from his perch in the Zoran Highlands. His cloak whipped about him in the breeze, though the frown on his face was colder by far. Something about the Ancient Sheikah tech rubbed him the wrong way. He supposed it may be a matter of pride, when comparing simple swordsmanship to such grandiose weapons, however something in his heart became restless. Without realizing it, he palmed the side of his ribs, feeling some phantom wound burn.

Shaking his head, the boy dispelled such worries and slung the grouse he had hunted over his shoulder. His simple hunting bow and quiver clattered on his back, and the Hylian strolled through the highlands at a leisurely pace. He'd spent the morning bowhunting, in the mood for fowl on rice that evening. Kodah had shown him a recipe and he'd been dying to try it himself.

Life went on in the Domain, and the training grounds had only intensified their rotation with the news of the encroaching Calamity. By now, Link had become somewhat known as a prodigy with the sword, even tutoring his peers in the craft. Bazz had learned much from the blonde boy, although his talent was primarily with the crescent Silverscale Spear. Gaddison naturally took to fighting like a fish to water, and she was rumored to be the Demon Sarge's next-in-line for captain of the guard.

Yet the surprising case was that of Torfeau.

Coming from a family of fisherzora, the black scaled girl had no natural talent or gift for combat, however she'd one day entered the trainee classes and put so much effort into practicing her form and technique that even the instructors were impressed. Tenacity and hard work had their own rewards, and Torfeau had soon earned the right to armor of her own right next to her peers.

Link smiled as he thought of his friends.

The conflict and uncertainty that had broiled within him when he first arrived at the domain had settled. There were still episodes of unexplainable deja-vu, and he didn't know what to make of the spectral skeleton that visited him in dreamstate. Despite such mysteries, the boy felt at peace in his new home, and the company of his friends and work as a trainee guard made his heart swell with fulfillment.

He enjoyed taking some mornings to explore the land surrounding the domain. Often Bazz came with him, or Gaddison when they played _the wandering heroine and her sidekick_. Something about exploring the unknown made his heart sing, crossing the next hill just to catch a glimpse of the rising sun. If he didn't love his home among the waterfalls so dearly, Link was sure he would have become a wandering vagabond just to see the sights beyond the mountains.

Passing into the domain proper, Link made his way to Kodah's inn. Her parents were used to their little Hylian visitor, and accepted the grouse with a promise to chill the meat for when he'd return to try cooking up their daughter's recipe. Part of the blonde boy wondered why they always giggled when he was around Kodah.

Shedding his cloak and bow, Link was about to head to the falls for some swimming with Rivan when a dulcet voice turned his head.

"Any luck hunting this morning?"

The blonde grinned as he turned to face the princess. While Mipha had once seemed so formal and unreachable, welcoming her into the Big Bad Bazz Brigade had opened up the lonely princess to the group of friends. She smiled more often, laughed and played with the gang just like any other Zora her age. Link still respected the social protocol of treating her as the princess, but he couldn't help intervening to make her feel welcome. He'd been told he had a natural talent for helping others with their problems, and from minor errands around the domain to supporting his friends, Link had a reputation as a reliable individual. Personally, he just felt the need to make the world a better place.

"Yes actually," he said turning to face her, "Just a grouse, but I'm looking forward to trying a new recipe with it tonight. Some of the others are coming by later, you're welcome to as well, Lady Mipha."

She smiled in response, "Thank you, your cooking is always a treat."

They fell into step together as they had a chat. Mipha was busy with both her education with Muzu, and attending the diplomatic negotiations so she could gain some experience her father believed would be valuable. Despite her hectic schedule, she still made time to see her friends.

Link told her about the latest goings-on with the gang. Bazz and Gaddison were still neck-and-neck competing for the future captain of the guard position. Ledo was rejected by Laflat again, and still had no idea that her sister Marot liked him. Sidon had gotten his little hands on a chisel and Lodyn had been furiously hunting whoever had left a crude smiley face in one of the support pillars.

"Oh dear, he really does get up to such mischief," She laughed, "I wonder where he learns it from, hmmm..."

Link did his best to look innocent, only spurring more laughter.

"Well, at any rate, I'm looking forward to the next meeting at the _you know_ where. Those apples we made last time were delicious."

The secret pond near the veiled falls was the hideout for the Big Bad Bazz Brigade. Mostly it served to give the young ones a place away from the old geezers so they could goof off.

"Sure, I'll ask Bazz when he plans to get the gang back together," Link offered.

The crimson scaled princess tilted her head, mulling over some idea.

"I wouldn't mind...even if it was just..."

Her cheeks colored slightly, and she shook her head, shifting her pretty fins.

"Forget I said anything!"

Link blinked, feeling like he'd missed something important.

They walked together again in a moment of silence, before Mipha perked up.

"Oh yes, I meant to tell you, I was going to walk to Luto's Crossing and heal the morning shift patrol, but my father said it was far too dangerous with the monsters about."

She looked at him from the corner of her eye as they walked together.

"Now if I had an _escort_ , however, I suppose it wouldn't be so dangerous. What do you say?"

The Hylian placed a palm to his chest.

"As you wish, " he said with exaggerated drama. The pair of friends laughed.

It was only a short detour to grab his father's sword from storage, _just in case_. While incidents of monsters were on the rise, the inner kingdom of the Zora was frequently patrolled and safe enough children often went out to pick berries or flowers on their own. It was going to be a pleasant afternoon jaunt.

* * *

 _In another life, the early days preceding the calamity were punctuated by unforeseen monster attacks and natural disasters. Responding to some malignant evil, monsters began to multiply and venture further than ever before in living memory. From farm attacks to travelers ambushed, there were many minor tragedies that dotted the land as darkness crept back into Hyrule. One such event was the disappearance of a Zora patrol near Ruto Mountain. While regrettable, a search yielded nothing but bloodstains and discarded weaponry, and so the security around the domain was tightened._

* * *

 _You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?_

 _Yet there's no time left._

 _Time is not eternal._

 _Please value your time._

 _Believe in your strengths...Believe..._

* * *

They knew something was wrong when the clash of steel was carried over the wind.

Breaking into a run, Link and Mipha crested the side of the mountain pass high up above Luto's Crossing. Mipha's horrified gasp punctuated the scene they found, of a nearly decimated patrol fighting a band of Lizalfos.

The lizard fighters were rare, a large species of monster that could move lightning fast and haunted mountains of more remote locations. Capable of using tools and armor, they were an exceptionally deadly encounter with their natural ability to camouflage. Never before had there been more than two sighted at once, however locked in combat with the two surviving guards was no less than _seven_ of the creatures.

Including one towards the rear, which had an unusual gold coloration to its scales.

"Oh goddess... Link we must get help immediately!"

The blood pounded in his ears. Hair raised on the back of his neck.

"Link! Link come quickly! _LINK!_ "

His breathing came shallow, the weight of his father's blade heavy on his back.

Zora bodies lay still under bloodied jagged knives, the two survivors pushed back against the rock wall fighting to exhaustion.

 _A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage._

"No, NO! Link please-!"

He leapt into the fray, as all the others had before him.

The slope was steep, and gravel slid beneath his boots as Link braced himself sliding down the sheer rock. He drew his longsword with a rasp of steel, and jumped from the rock wall with all the strength his legs could spare.

The first of the Lizalfos whirled at the noise, and shrieked a death-knell as the boy plummeted onto its shoulders with his blade through its skull. Faced with a new aggressor, the remaining Lizalfos spread out, even as the wounded Zoran guards shouted for the trainee to flee. Link ripped his wet blade from the first body, and readied his stance.

 _Why do you live in disbelief?_

Two came for him then, jagged tri-pronged knives already wet with the blood of Zora. Rising with fury in his veins, the boy smashed his father's blade into the guard of the first and riposte into the ribs of the second that had overshot him with a hiss. Spinning cat-like, he returned a cut to the first Lizalfos with a shower of sparks, and once more dropping low to the ground to slash the monster's legs asunder. The tip of his sword crushed through the struggling lizard's eye socket, and he turned to face the remainder.

 _If you leave things as they are, something terrible will happen to this world._

Four turned now to face him, as the wounded guards struggled to rise and save him. Wicked tongues danced over their scaled beaks, hungry for fresh prey. Outnumbered and outmatched by sheer size, still the boy did not falter. His sword whipped forth, and the blade met the oncoming knives with strength beyond his mortal body. He could hear his heartbeat slow even as the movement of the monsters appeared sluggish, senses sharpened as he _moved_.

A scaled arm severed, the screaming head soon to follow. A furious Lizal slashing for the boy's back, striking but air as he backflipped and opened the creature's face with a savage slash. Two more, wary now at the eerie destruction, striking as one. Ripping his blade through the return strike at an uppercut, the boy parried the dual strikes and stabbed through the exposed ribs of one, and spun to plant the sword into the throat of the other.

And then there was one.

The gold Lizalfos regarded the boy with impassive, alien features. Whatever thoughts dwelt behind the cruel eyes, the monster merely unsheathed its own blade, and began to approach.

 _Awaken and remember who you are, hero of legend!_

 **Link remembered**

Sparks danced over the soil as steel rang against iron. The sinew of monstrous beast striking a flurry of blurred blows matched by the battle craft of a knight's bloodline. Again and again the clang of razors smashing into each other, neither giving an inch.

The Gold Lizalfos was a chieftain of its kind, a rare envoy of the creeping malice. It had slain countless numbers of soldiers and travelers alike.

But the boy standing defiantly before it had come from the realm of legend.

The savage knife whistled through the air, so fast it blurred to the eye. Yet for Link, the blade was as if underwater, slowed to his heightened combat perception.

He raised his father's sword in a smooth motion, feeling the guidance of Demon Sergeant Seggin's many lessons amid the training grounds of the domain.

He stepped forward as the enemy's blow was parried, inside the Lizal's guard, and cross-cut with the disciplined stroke of the Hylian royal guard.

He pivoted and ripped the return stroke across the staggered creature's ribs with the twist he learned on the polished oaken floors of the Sheikah dojos.

He screamed a battlecry as he leapt high into the air, and flipped in a spin executing the _helm splitter_ with perfect finesse by the tutelage of the hero's shade.

And then there was silence.

The Lizal remained standing, frozen for a heartbeat, before the monster's very skull split in twain, and with a crash of red the creature fell to the earth defeated.

Link stood amid the broken bodies, gasping for breath as the shock of battle left his system. His father's sword felt heavy in his grasp, and his legs gave way as he knelt, propping himself up with the blade alone. Sweat beaded on his brow, his blue eyes wide as his mind caught up. The shaking began, first in his hands, and then the rest.

 _The Calamity.._

 _The Princess..._

 _The Champions..._

 _...Mipha..._

The memories flowed in a rush; A hundred years of life, love, grief and struggle woven into a bittersweet tapestry. He gasped for breath that his lungs couldn't take enough of, raw emotion wracking his body.

Cool hands gently cradled his face.

Link raised his eyes, and met Mipha's gaze as she knelt in the dirt with him. Her honey-amber eyes crossed his face, drawing over every detail, her lips parted with some half-thought, the tinkle of her jewelry against his labored breathing.

There were a hundred things she could have said, to berate him for recklessness, to cry, to fuss over injury...

Instead, she cupped his face like a precious treasure, tears gathering in her relieved golden gaze.

" _...I'm doomed..._ " she whispered sweetly, her eyes never leaving his.

They embraced there in the setting sun of the Ruto Mountains, and Link pressed his face into the crook of Mipha's neck, her very smell, touch, and _presence_ a vital thirst to him.

He wept, for everything that was, and everything that will be.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Sorry for the long delay, life gets busy. The story is moving along, and as always please share your thoughts and hopes for the next chapters.

* * *

"I'm sorry your majesty. By all my craft in medicine the boy is as healthy as can be, I cannot say why he will not awaken."

There was a gathering in the medical wing of Zora's Domain. King Dorephan, flanked by his honor guard, loomed with concern over the miniscule cot of the Hylian youth, the blue-scaled doctor fretting nervously at his side. Mipha, her eyes bloodshot from earlier distress, merely stood quietly beside her father. She never looked away from her blonde friend's face.

"It has been three days... He was not injured, was he?" King Dorephan's generous voice filled the chamber.

"No my liege, there were no cuts or bruises on the boy's body."

"Why then? Shellshock?"

The term came from an older anecdote about a war in which arrows rained almost constantly during an engagement, and some soldiers locked up behind their seashell shields, too traumatized to move.

"I don't think so my liege, he was still cognizant after the battle and only collapsed on the way back to the domain."

There was silence. The King's brow furrowed. For all his martial prowess, the most painful reality of a leader was the helplessness when faced with an injured subordinate. He could crack stone from the living mountain with his fins, but his strength could not wake up the earnest young lad that had protected his daughter.

"Are the testimonies of the guardzora to be believed, my lord?" The doctor asked haltingly. The king fixed the male with a stern gaze.

"My soldiers would not lie to me, nor would my daughter."

Mipha said nothing, only wringing her fingers in a concerned tic.

Only rumors had spread thus far, but the truth of a 11 year old child slaying several Lizalfos in combat, let alone a rare gold _chieftain,_ was beyond the pale. The surviving guards themselves swore they could not have moved as the boy did, effortlessly dispatching the monsters with the skill of one decades his senior. It was like witnessing a miracle.

...

"Stop moving around so much! I'm going to fall!"

"Hey! It's not my fault you keep stepping on my headfin!"

The medical wing had been closed as the King attended to the unusual case of what happened following the Lizalfos incursion. There was no word yet released to the public, but that didn't stop a certain troublesome brigade from trying to find out what was going on with their Hylian member.

Bazz, Rivan, Gaddison, Torfeau and Kodah were all clustered by one of the outer walls, having scaled a waterway. Bazz and Rivan were volun _told_ to provide a boost so Torfeau and Kodah could peer into one of the windows and spy on the secret proceedings. Gaddison, ever the heroine, had vaulted up the sheer wall face and gripped the windowsill with her strength alone.

"I can't see, what's going on?" Bazz asked impatiently.

"Hold still," Kodah muttered as she squinted through the glass, "I see him! Oh Linny..."

Torfeau was likewise dismayed, "He's lying on a bed, he doesn't look hurt though! Why hasn't he got up?"

Rivan could only brace himself, struggling to keep the Zora youth standing on him aloft.

"Wait," Gaddison turned her lavender head to peer through at the entrance of the wing, "I see others coming in!"

...

"My liege."

Through the medical wing's entrance came Muzu, escorting an even _more_ wizened old Zora with the ceremonial red robes of the seers. None were certain of his age, and from his reclusive hermitage in the Zobodan mountains few ever came to call upon him, lest their need be dire. A seer was beholden only to the gods themselves, and this one was the sole surviving diviner among the Zora race.

Sahasrahla.

Ancient eyes twinkled from under the red hood, and the old one bowed respectfully to the King.

"You called, your majesty."

The Zora patriarch turned to usher in the seer, "Sahasrahla, I have need of your counsel. This boy rescued two of my soldiers and my daughter from several monsters in the wild. His swordsmanship defied his age, and yet when the battle was over he collapsed and did not awake, despite lacking any injury. I fear witchcraft of some sort." Dorephan's somber words brought a gasp out of Mipha's quiet vigil.

"I see." The seer was silent for a moment.

Sahasrahla spread his arms wide, and the doctor, the princess, and even the King and his honor guards cleared the way for the soothsayer to stand by the boy's cot.

"I shall work my majicks, and find what wounds this youth's spirit..."

He began to chant, a mumble at first like that of the doddering elderly, then growing in strength. His words filled the room, cutting the air like a knife. The twilight seemed to dim, and all at once the old seer was larger than he appeared, by the light of his craft.

世に 理なく、命未だ 形なさず。

混沌の地 ハイラルに 黄金の三大神、降臨す。

He spoke using an ancient tongue, the language of the soothsayers which came from over the veil. The room thrummed as the seer began to peer into the ethereal realm of spirit, and the Zora watching could only gaze in wonder at a rare sight of old magic.

...

A seer could be granted a vision at the will of the gods.

This was often why they chose a hermit's life, seeking an ascetic existence to better attune themselves to the ebb and flow of the world. To see a glimpse of the future was no small thing; The realm of time was not one permitted for mortal meddling without the gods consent.

Magic however, was yet another manifestation of the natural laws of the world, and thus could be divined and harnessed by those with the aptitude alone, regardless of divine intervention. This could be anything from fireballs cast by a wizzrobe, to a dark curse wrought by a warlock.

What King Dorephan feared was some form of the latter. A small child slaying several fully grown monsters that decimated a patrol was not normal, and if the boy was possessed... it was a grim thought.

Sahasrahla spoke his words of power, and wove his spell. It was possible to project oneself in a limited fashion into the spirit realm, in which a caster could interact with ethereal manifestations, in this case to see what was interfering the boy's spirit.

The seer had ruled out physical injury, and this did not appear to be the work of a dreaded poe. Something was... _shrouding_ the Hylian's soul. Like a shield.

Curious.

Sahasrahla delved deeper, his essence leaving his physical body as he peered deeper into the spirit realm. While not yet within the domain of the afterlife, this was a state just on the edge of mortality. He brushed passed scattered emotions and-

 _WHITE_

The seer halted. Shocked for the first time in many decades. This was like nothing he had ever experienced before, fog-ridden surroundings in which no sensation of touch or smell greeted him.

There, before him, was the boy curled up and weeping as he clutched a sword.

And above him...

The seer shrank back.

The being was _tall._ There was no Hylian that matched the height of the Zora, and yet this one did. Ancient armor, strewn with moss, garbed the figure. A sword and shield of archaic design hung at the ready, and the tri-pronged helmet turned to face the Zora soothsayer.

Sahasrahla fell to his knees.

The empty sockets of the skeleton knight stared down at the frightened Zora. The shade made no movements, no threat or concession. It merely regarded the intruder with an impassive, inscrutable gaze.

Then the shade _spoke_.

...

The medical wing descended into alarm as the seer Sahasrahla screamed a keening cry and fell to his knees.

The other Zora surrounded him, fearing some attack, but the old one in his now-disheveled robe ignored their presence, praying at a frenzied pace.

" _Oh merciful goddesses, I see your champion before me. I see the endless numbers he's destroyed. I hear the cries of those he brought salvation. I am humbled by your mercy, that you deliver us from evil..."_

"What's wrong with him?" The doctor looked frantically about for an answer, completely out of his depth. The King himself seemed to be weighing whether or not to seize the poor seer and try to shake him out of his trance.

Sahasrahla's eyes rolled in his sockets, " _As the servants of evil gain strength, a vile climate pervades the land... The time has come to test his courage... Forest, Mountain, Lake... Find the spiritual stones, and open the door of time."_

As the last word passed his lips, the Zora seer collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. The doctor caught him as he fell, resting the elder on a pillow. One of the honor guards stooped to wrap the old Zora in a blanket.

"Was this a vision?" Dorephan asked as he turned to Muzu.

The green-scaled advisor stroked one of his feelers like a beard, "I cannot be certain my liege. I do not believe a possessed Zora could invoke the old goddesses in vain, what Sahasrahla saw might have compelled him to this...episode."

"A prophecy then?"

Muzu hummed deep in thought, "Perhaps. I do not recognize what _spiritual stones_ may refer to, nor whom the seer spoke of testing courage..."

"Link."

Mipha's voice cut through the tense atmosphere like crystal.

"It's Link."

She stood by his bedside, tracing a red finger along his cheekbone, a melancholy look on her face.

"He came to us all alone. He struggled all his days around our home, never asking for anything. He fights like a knight from a storybook, like the goddess sent him to us..."

Her finger paused, tracing his chin.

"...and now this prophecy will take him away..."

Muzu harumphed, dismissing the notion.

"Preposterous. He's just an ordinary Hylian. You shouldn't worry yourself over fantasies, princess."

The King looked back to where the doctor was tending the seer. The look on the medic's face was not positive.

"He's slipped into a coma my liege."

"Damn."

Dorephan scowled, clenching his knuckles to white. Even now he could feel the cogs of destiny turning, and the paternal fear he felt when the Calamity Prophecy was first issued only intensified now with this second premonition. The thought of _his children_ being caught up in this looming war made the giant ruler sick to his stomach. Now, a mere child his daughter befriended was expected to venture out into the dangerous wild?

"Damn..." The Zora king's shoulders sank, and he looked older than his years with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

There was a gasp from the princess.

Dorephan whirled about, and saw Link's eyes open wearily, his chest still rising and falling with the slow cadence of bedrest. Mipha cradled his face instantly, calling for him with urgent worry. The Hylian youth looked to her, scarcely able to move.

In his gaze, Dorephan saw an echo of the pain he felt for his child. Link's eyes drank in the sight of Mipha's tear-stricken face, some tragic fear in the crease of his brow. The king cursed his own useless strength, unable to shelter his young ones from the dangers of the world.

"Tell me you are alright..." Mipha whispered.

The Hylian raised a shaky hand and placed it over the princess's own.

"...I am now."

Breathing in deeply, cobwebs of sleep banished, the boy pulled himself to sit up despite the frantic protestations of both the doctor and the princess. He then looked to the King, and Dorephan felt a curious sensation of being before... _something_.

"I must go."

"You _cannot_!" the doctor appeared almost affronted by the idea, "three days of bedrest at _minimum!_ This is a medical abnormality that has no record in the-"

Link held the king's gaze. Dorephan felt the scales on the back of his neck itch. There was something _old_ in that look, and once again he felt the horrible current of destiny taking one of his little ones away again.

"Ganon will seize the divine beasts."

There was silence at that statement. It would have been easier to disbelieve the youth had Sahasrahla not collapsed while fanatically raving.

Link looked aside at the Zora seer's comatose body in the next cot.

"You won't believe me. Regardless, I must find the spiritual stones of the Zora, the Gorons, and the Kokiri. Then the path will be clear."

He held Mipha's hand tightly, running his thumb in circles over her knuckle deep in thought. Resolved, he looked up once more, and blue eyes shone unclouded with determination.

"I will not fail."

Unnoticed by all, there was the faintest glimmer of gold on the back of his left hand.


	7. Chapter 7

Time.

There wasn't enough, not for what needed to be done before this looming calamity, but he had to make do.

Link scraped the whetstone against his father's sword, the battered steel both ancient and familiar to him. Removing the nicks from his recent battle was necessary maintenance, and the fluctuations in the metal finish spoke of generations of smithy repairs.

 _Why was I given this chance?_

The thought had been nagging him, as he tried to assimilate the curious sensation of having _two_ alternate childhoods merged in his memory, as well as recollections of a doomed future.

There was no proper grammar for referring future events that had both already happened and _had not_.

The Hylian youth sighed, wiping an oilskin cloth against his blade, gripping the faded red leather handle.

In the future-past, he had joined the royal family honor guard as his father had before him, and through his exceptional strength of arms been nominated as the appointed knight to Princess Zelda. Following the words of a royal family prophecy, she had come with him to the sacred grove in the Lost Woods, and he had drawn the legendary Master Sword.

It was shortly after that things began to go wrong.

Link remembered the terrifying pressure of the kingdom's future resting on his shoulders as he stood with Zelda during a ceremony announcing the plan to fight the coming darkness. Of thousands of souls looking up to their courtyard perch in fear and hope, and Link's throat tightening with anxiety.

It was so easy to justify the strong, silent routine as being brave for their benefit. Shutting himself off from all those around him as if he was an impervious fixture that had been born to accept this role.

 _You coward_.

The blond boy's hands ceased polishing the sword. He stared at the blade listlessly.

He had been afraid; Of the responsibility, of failure, of letting anyone see that he had his own doubts. He even pushed away Mipha, cruelly so, knowing she would be the first to see through his facade. How much would have been different, had he offered Zelda a kind word? Or confided in his dear Zora princess? Or even had he _tried_ reaching out to Revali, or the others?

He had said nothing, and it was all he got in return after the world had ended. A bird sang from outside the window, but the boy sat morose on his cot.

Link thought of the skeleton knight who came to him in dreams.

His second childhood had been guided by the spectral blademaster, whose glowing red eye oversaw the secret techniques passed on almost proudly. Remembering his skills from before the Calamity, Link could safely say he did not know a _tenth_ of what the ghost had taught him.

 _"You may have known me as_ _ **the hero of time**_ _."_

It was eerie, that among all of the ancient legends of heroics dating back tens of thousands of years, Link's father had happened to pass down childhood fables about _that very same hero_.

"But then, when all hope had died, and the hour of doom seemed at hand...

...a young boy clothed in green appeared as if from nowhere.

Wielding the blade of evil's bane, he sealed the dark one away and gave the land light.

This boy, who traveled through time to save the land, was known as the Hero of Time."

Link recited the fragment of the story, looking out the window at the small thrush pecking at a snail shell.

The hero of time had been even younger than him when he set out on his journey.

Had he been afraid for his loved ones? Doubted himself?

 _Why did he die unfulfilled and full of regret?_

Link had a vision of himself wrought of rust and bone, standing over Mipha's grave with the same hollow sadness he saw in the skeletal knight.

He put down his father's sword, feeling his hands shaking.

He could not afford to be a coward. Not again. A chance like this would never come again. He would learn all he could from the hero's shade, the key to defeating the calamity once and for all lay in their cooperation. He would seek out this evil and meet it on his own terms.

 _And he would have the courage to admit he was mortal, with all his own faults, and seek help from his friends._

* * *

Link was different.

The Bazz brigade had grown up together. Each of them had their quirks and mannerisms, but what had changed their Hylian friend was more significant than a teenage phase.

It was in the way he walked, somehow more sure of step, with a presence that made him seem older than his years. It was in the warmth of his smile among them being a thirst, like he hadn't seen them for ages.

It was in his eyes, bearing a strength of purpose they had only ever seen in the Demon sergeant Seggin. A warrior's gaze.

Kodah stirred the cauldron, frowning as the group busied themselves in the pastel pink and orange of the dawn-lit kitchen. Her family's inn often had the brigade chipping in as much as they could, and in return her parents let the youngsters spend their time together when the place was empty. At the moment, Bazz was stringing up bedsheets along the balcony with Torfeau, Gaddison was filleting some sizzlefin for lunch, and Link was calmly repairing one of the chair legs.

 _As if he wasn't on the brink of death not so long ago_ , she thought to herself.

The brigade had immediately spirited the young blonde away as soon as he was released from the medical ward. With Mipha filling in what she'd seen during the fight herself, Link spoke for some time about what he had seen in his dream, the same foreboding message that Sahasralha had cried out before his collapse.

 _As the servants of evil gain strength, a vile climate pervades the land... The time has come to test his courage... Forest, Mountain, Lake... Find the spiritual stones, and open the door of time._

What were spiritual stones? And what was a door of time? And for the love of the Wind Fish, why _him?_

It made her fins curl with distress. She used to complain about being dragged off to scrub pots for her mother, about snails for dinner, or Mipha having more time around Link than she liked. It all seemed so childish and naive looking back, with the threat of some ancient prophecy now tugging their generation into a war. Kodah wanted to scream and hide in bed until it all went away and they could be kids again.

Growing up wasn't fun at all, she thought sadly.

She wasn't a fighter like the others; she cooked, cleaned and bossed the boys around. Since she was a tadpole she'd dreamed of being a housewife, and having her cozy little family full of warmth and laughter. Seeing Linny lying there motionless, she wanted to hug him to her chest and hide his fluffy blonde head from the cruel world.

Maybe she couldn't swing a weapon, maybe it really was the end of all things...but as long as Kodah was around, she would look after her family in the brigade with a warm meal and clean sheets. It was her own special way of keeping them safe.

The red hued zora smiled to herself in a melancholy mood, her eyes drawn once more to her Hylian crush.

"Hey, Kodah?" Rivan was looking at her with some concern.

"Yes? What's the matter?" She replied, shaking errant thoughts away as she came to attention.

"I think you burned breakfast..."

The smell of charred fish began to fill the air as the cauldron had overheated, and the sides of the pot were now black giving off an acrid smoke of meat burned into the cast iron. Kodah squawked, and felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment as the others quickly surrounded her and helped clean up the damage.

 _So much for warm meals you scatterbrained tadpole!_

Kodah sighed.

* * *

Princess Mipha had long ago known the weight of responsibility.

When their mother had died all those years ago, she had vowed to fill in as much as she were able for her brother Sidon's sake. Showing maturity and care beyond her years, the Zora princess became known for her kindness and healing hand among the domain. It had left her little time to act her own age.

That all changed with the coming of a rambunctious little Hylian to her home.

Link had gone out of his way to include her in their friend group, seeing past her royal title and looking her in the eyes as one of them. The way he was always delighted by even a simple demonstration of her healing was... adorable.

Over time, she felt an attachment to the earnest young blonde.

He always took the time to help others, never asking for reward or recognition. She'd seen him do everything from stooping to pick weeds for an elder's garden, to volunteering with Lodyn to repair the stoneworks about the domain.

His drive to help others in need spoke to her heart. The two of them naturally got along.

She found herself looking for him when he'd enter the room, watching his speak, sitting near him suspiciously more often than by chance...

Mipha felt her cheeks warm, how her heart fluttered when those blue eyes would meet her own.

After all she had done to assume the role of a caring princess for her people and her family, it soothed her soul to act her age and be a silly youth with her own dreams.

The coming prophecy quickly cast a dark shadow over their carefree lives.

It was a juvenile hope that they could have remained safe and unnoticed in their home. The thought of seeing her friends, of seeing _Link_ , venture out fighting evil and return bloodied, broken like so many of the guards she had tended... It broke her heart.

Mipha remembered every single Zora that she could not save. Those that had sputtered and faded amid bloody wounds, eyes sightless as they passed on. It was a tragedy, a life slipping away before its time. There had been nights she had woken tear-stricken, chest heaving in the waterline as she buried nightmares of Link lying there burnt and bloody...

 _No._

The crimson Zora calmed herself, bringing her thoughts back into focus. She remembered the blond Hylian, the angle of his chin, the light in his blue eyes, and felt the gentle lapping of her healing magic flow through her body.

She would never allow him to come to harm. There would be nothing in this world that could hurt him such that she would not mend. Her powers thrummed, and light bloomed from her hands.

It wasn't strength of will that made her power blossom, nor was it merely royal bloodline.

It was the magic of the little souls that stopped to help elders, that mended cuts and scrapes, that gave a caring smile to those who needed a light in the dark.

 _It is in all of us, and it is beautiful._

Mipha closed her eyes and smiled, floating on her back, and day dreamed of her blond boy.

* * *

The afternoon sun shone like fire across the gently lapping waves of the domain's interior.

Instructor Seggin sat on the reservoir edge with his recently recovered trainee Link. The demon sergeant was quiet, watching the boundaries of their aquatic home peaked by mountain ranges that caught the daylight in patterns of amber. It had been welcome to see one of his favorite students return unharmed, and fit to fight at that.

Still, the dour warrior had made no comment on Link's performance.

"You're old enough now tadpole," He said surprisingly gently as he produced a bottle of rice wine, "I'd have you stay a while and listen."

Link nodded, and graciously accepted a cup of the clear spirit. The alcohol burned as he sipped it, but somehow the feeling was a comforting warmth. The Hylian sighed.

Seggin sipped his own cup, staring off into the distance.

"We haven't spoken since your battle."

"No, sergeant."

"It was reckless, had you left the princess without an escort, but you made the choice any man must when confronted by evil."

"..."

The elder zora gently swished the wine he held.

"Even in my prime, young Link, I would have beheld caution facing a chieftain of the Lizalfos. What you accomplished is nothing less than a miracle."

"You trained me well, sir."

The old Zora's sharp eyes caught him.

"I have seen many warriors, and had my share of duels among them. There is something about you, young Hylian, that feels just out of reach."

He looked off into the horizon again, "It reminds me of the stories I knew as a tadpole."

Silence between the two, and Link felt somehow things had changed from mere student and teacher between them. It was cruel, in the way that one must grow up, but as he who had known the future must leave home one day. The student had outgrown the teacher's sheltering wing.

"You're planning to leave, then? On this damn foolish quest?"

Link nodded resolutely.

"Hrrrrn... All the caution in the sea would be wasted on your long ears, I think." Seggin growled, "What with these prophecies and ancient machines, I sometimes wonder what use simple warriors like us are."

The scarred instructor stared at the bottom of his empty cup.

"In the end, we mortals are all that really stands between our home and the coming dark..."

He nodded his head, and looked resolutely to the horizon.

"Take Bazz with you. He is old enough he will be a man in his own right, and I could trust no one more with my only son."

Link sat up straighter, touched by his teacher's faith.

"Your other ragtag friends are likely to come along, so I suggest you come to terms with that. Gaddison would drown you before she let you go on an adventure without her."

They laughed. Seggin rose, and Link got up to face him. The sergeant looked him over, satisfied with what he saw of the boy's mettle.

"If this really is part of the prophecy, then we Zora must have our part to play in the Goddess' plans. May the Wind Fish guide your path, young one."

Link nodded, "I will protect the people of the domain, count on it sir."

Seggin placed his hands on Link's shoulders warmly.

" _Our_ people."

Link blinked back warmth at his eyelids, and embraced his teacher.

* * *

The next morning was bathed in mist as the chill of night was warded off by the warmth of the dawn's pastel light.

Birds chirped as the land came to life, the blue and grey of distant mountains shining as they changed color with the oncoming tide of daylight. The road leading out from the domain stretched out into the peaks, and the gateway sentries let him pass with an encouraging word.

Link hitched his pack tighter. For the journey ahead he'd slipped on faded white Hylian tights, and a laced up undershirt. A smaller hauberk of chainmail over thin padding had been Seggin's gift before he'd left, and over top he belted a green tunic he'd found among his father's things that felt somehow... _right._ He wore his favored leather boots, supple leather hunting gloves, and strapped his father's sword across his pack, along with his hunting bow and a quiver of arrows at the back of his waist. His old cloak hung about hi shoulders for the elements and a bedroll, but for some reason he had a brief feeling that he needed a cap...

 _Don't be ridiculous, those floppy things went out of style years ago._

He walked down the elegant bridge leading out of the domain, already sure of what he'd find waiting for him.

"Fluffy white clouds!" He called out.

"Clear blue ZORA!" Came the reply.

Sure enough, a few other familiar figures were gathered there, some with packs of their own and weapons.

Bazz stood upright, armored and carrying his silverscale spear. He waved to Link and took stock once more of their provisions and his issued canteen.

Gaddison leaned on her own spear, grinning at him as she flexed her lilac arms amid the straps of her weighty pack and silver bow. A white cloak billowed about her shoulders. Ever the heroine.

Torfeau, Rivan and Kodah were standing there too, although they did not have packs themselves. They three had family obligations at home, and Link didn't want to think about the difficulty they must have had deciding they couldn't come along. Torfeau's lip quivered as she held back tears.

 _And yet there was one more with a cloak and hood pulled up, hiding their face..._

"All set?" Gaddison asked, hefting her spear.

"Yes." Link nodded, "Thank you for coming with me."

"Are you kidding?" Bazz chuckled, "No way we're letting you run off alone."

Link smiled, and turned to the others.

"I'm sorry you can't come with us, I know it means a lot to you, but you're no less my treasured friends and I can't wait to see you again when we get back."

Rivan nodded, relieved. "Thanks for understanding Link, I couldn't leave my dad working by himself."

Torfeau screwed up her face and saluted him through the tears, "You're taking me on the next adventure, you better _promise!_ " Her parents had a screaming match with her, needing their daughter's help for this season's harvest.

Link clasped her hands and swore a solemn promise. She wiped her eyes and hugged him.

Kodah was strangely quiet, approaching Link and handing him a cloth wrapped bundle.

"I made you some special rations. They'll taste better than the ones in the guard. I hope when you're hungry they'll keep you fed, and remind you of me."

She stared at her toes, fidgeting.

"This is all I can do, please come back safe Linny."

Link graciously packed away the bundle, and then made Kodah squeak as he picked her up in a tight hug.

"Count on it."

Turning to the hooded zora in their midst, he hooked his thumbs in his belt and grinned.

" It's not too late to turn back, you sure about this _princess?_ "

The hood was pulled back to reveal the smiling face of Princess Mipha, her own little pack and her Lightscale Trident by her side.

"A princess is never late, nor is she early. She goes _precisely_ where she means to." Mipha said with a glint in her eye.

The friends laughed together, and exchanging some more hugs and well-wishes, parted ways as Link and his three companions began their journey.

"Hurry back soon so we can go on another adventure!" Torfeau called as she waved.

"You let anything happen to Linny and I'll boil you for dinner Bazz!" Kodah called furiously.

Rivan just waved, overwhelmed by the emotional females standing by him at the gates.

The morning air made their walk pleasant and crisp. Gaddison and Bazz took an easy march, chatting amicably. Link walked next to Mipha, the two of them sharing a knowing smirk.

"Muzu is going to go ballistic, you realize that of course?" He asked.

"Perhaps," Mipha relied calmly, "But as the future queen, taking action to protect our home is also within my purview."

Link raised an eyebrow.

"You really think that line will work?"

She laughed, the sound of glass bells and pretty sharp teeth flashing.

"No, I simply wanted to go on an adventure with you."

The pair chuckled, enjoying each other's company. Link wondered why he had ever been so foolish as to hide behind a wall of silence, that he had missed out on all of this.

The Hylian boy hesitated a moment, and then his hand shyly drifted over and clasped the red scaled one next to his. The pair gazed out intently at the horizon, a blush dusting both their cheeks.


End file.
